Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Mother's Day is coming!

In  honor of my mom, one of my all-time favorite poems (it always makes me giggle!):

 The Lanyard - Billy Collins

The other day I was ricocheting slowly
off the blue walls of this room,
moving as if underwater from typewriter to piano,
from bookshelf to an envelope lying on the floor,
when I found myself in the L section of the dictionary
where my eyes fell upon the word lanyard.
No cookie nibbled by a French novelist
could send one into the past more suddenly—
a past where I sat at a workbench at a camp
by a deep Adirondack lake
learning how to braid long thin plastic strips
into a lanyard, a gift for my mother.
I had never seen anyone use a lanyard
or wear one, if that’s what you did with them,
but that did not keep me from crossing
strand over strand again and again
until I had made a boxy
red and white lanyard for my mother.
She gave me life and milk from her breasts,
and I gave her a lanyard.
She nursed me in many a sick room,
lifted spoons of medicine to my lips,
laid cold face-cloths on my forehead,
and then led me out into the airy light
and taught me to walk and swim,
and I, in turn, presented her with a lanyard.
Here are thousands of meals, she said,
and here is clothing and a good education.
And here is your lanyard, I replied,
which I made with a little help from a counselor.
Here is a breathing body and a beating heart,
strong legs, bones and teeth,
and two clear eyes to read the world, she whispered,
and here, I said, is the lanyard I made at camp.
And here, I wish to say to her now,
is a smaller gift—not the worn truth
that you can never repay your mother,
but the rueful admission that when she took
the two-tone lanyard from my hand,
I was as sure as a boy could be
that this useless, worthless thing I wove
out of boredom would be enough to make us even.

I believe my summer camp creation was not a lanyard, but a crudely crafted leather bracelet with her name on it :) What was your childhood offering to your mother?

Saturday, April 9, 2011

The Story Behind the Lotion Bars



My darling husband works hard. He is one of the hardest working guys I've ever known. His hours are crazy, he gets very little sleep, and yet he is like that cute little pink energizer bunny - he just keeps going and going. He is a trauma nurse at a hospital that "specializes" in gunshot wounds, stabbings, and other various gory things. It takes an amazing person to be able to handle that kind of thing every day. I am not one of those people. I would be passed out on the floor :)

Being a nurse, he is constantly washing his hands. Being a guy, he considers lotion to be "for girls." His hands  are red and raw, and yet he will not use the lotion. Enter the lotion bar. This creation is filled with wonderfully moisturizing ingredients, and comes in a little silver tin that slips easily into his scrub pockets and no one has a clue what's in there. This enables him to take care of his hands, but in a manly way ;) I make his unscented too, since he would object to smelling like anything flowery or fruity. His also has no pink tissue paper in the tin - that would not be manly.

Now, these bars aren't just for guys. I make them in all different fragrances for us girls, since most of us DO like to smell good! I love that I can pop a tin into my purse, and not have to worry about a spill happening. It's also been great for those days when my littles have chapped cheeks. The ingredients are simple: a nice mixture of beeswax (soon to be coming from our very own bees!), oils, and butters. There are no colorants or preservatives, and the fragrance oils are the highest quality.

I have several lotion bars listed in my etsy shop. If you don't see a fragrance you like, just contact me, and I can do pretty much whatever fragrance you love! These also make a great Mother's Day gift, if you're one of those people who likes to plan ahead!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

GIVEAWAY!!!

Erica over at Confessions of a Homeschooler is giving away a copy of her fabulous geography curriculum! Go check it out!  http://confessionsofahomeschooler.blogspot.com/2011/04/expedition-earth-world-geography.html

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Topopo Salad

There's a mexican restaurant in the town I grew up in that is well known for its menu item called the Topopo Salad. I have fond memories of sitting at a big round table with the girlies in my family sharing HUGE plates of this amazing salad. The other day I was struck with a craving for a Topopo, so off to google I ran! My search was rewarded with the actual restaurant recipe - hooray! Here's a link to the site where I found the recipe, but for simplicity's sake, I've typed it all here as well, and added a few notes.

TOPOPO SALAD

INGREDIENTS
4 cups of iceberg lettuce
2 1/2 ounces Roma tomatoes, diced
2 1/2 ounces cooked, shredded Chicken
2 1/2 ounces Cheddar cheese
2 1/2 ounces Monterey Jack
Jalapenos, minced, to taste
2 1/2 ounces frozen Peas, thawed
2 1/2 Green Onions, chopped
Oil and apple cider vinegar dressing (2:1 oil and vinegar), to taste
4 ounces fried tortilla chips
4 ounces pinto beans, mashed
4 ounces additional cheddar cheese
3 ounces guacamole
1 tablespoon Romano grated cheese

PREPARATION

Combine iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, chicken, first two cheeses, jalapenos, peas and scallions in a bowl. Mix well. In a separate bowl, mix oil and vinegar. Toss with salad mixture.

Take tortilla chips and spread evenly on a serving plate. Spread pinto beans over the chips. Spread additional cheddar cheese over the pinto beans. Put in the microwave for about one minute, or until melted. (You may also place in an oven pre-heated to 350 degrees for about 10 minutes.)

Spread guacamole over the melted cheese. Top with salad mixture to form a mound. Sprinkle with Romano grated cheese.
This is the only thing I have ever eaaten at El Azteco, because it's so good that I never felt the need to try anything else. It has probably been a good 13 years since I have had this salad, due to the fact that the restaurant has had some bad health inspectons in the past, which totally freaked out my hubby. So, I was VERY happy to find an authentic recipe - it tasted just like I remembered! Try it and let me know what you think!