This past Christmas, my (kinda)mother- in-law gave me and the mr these really cool honey bee pins in our stockings. Nothing fancy, just a little pin, but I think it was one of the best gifts that I had gotten all year. The pin lives on my winter jacket.

And now I am into pins.

So a couple of the little’s came over yesterday after school for crafts and dinner and I figured a bit of pin making would be a perfect little project for us to do. And being that it’s the big V day coming up,%u00a0 making these pins heart shaped was more then overly appropriate. (What’s Valentines day without cute little hearts?) Well pin making we did, or I did, not so much for them. They made a few, but in the end, they were more excited to beat the crap out of the mr and to eat carrot shavings with peanut butter and nutella.. Totally ok with me because really, I was the one that wanted a little craft time and the mr did need to get his butt kicked.

Sure I made these pins pretty much for myself, but imagine the possibilities. Make a bunch to give out to your friends, family, neighbors, or even the mail man!? Or if you have yourself a little, how great would these pins be make and to give to all their little classmates. I know that if received one of these pins in my homemade shoe box mail box meant to collect all of my candy studded, drugstore bought valentines. I would have been elated and rocked that pin all year long on my super cool backpack.(grade schooler, they have all the fun) Right after I finished painting and gluing all my pins, Miley then decided that they were freaking awesome and wanted to make a bunch more…. Well little little, to late, time to go home. But I did give her a bunch to bring back with her. She will just have to bug her mom to make some more.

And sure, I mention valentines day when talking about these pins, but really, hearts are for everyday, and are still really great long after V day is over.

Handmade heart pins = love!

Stuff you need for some awesome pins.

• Polymer clay (I used white but any color will do)
• red and white paint (preferably enamel or a high gloss paint) and a paint brush
• bar pin backs (I bought these at Michael ‘s craft store. 64 for like 3 bucks!)
• industrial strength glue (E600 is great and is used and recommended by many a crafters)
• rolling pin or wooden dowel
• small heart shaped cutter
• sharpie pen to write on pins (optional)
• Glitter( also optional)

A couple notes. You could use red clay but I have found that when I buy the red dyed clay, its always harder to work with and plus, it stainsyour hands. Also, I like to seal the clay and enamel paint does the trick. If you don’t want to paint it, just pain on a coat of clear sealer.

Start buy kneading a chunk of clay a little bit to get it to a workable state, then roll into a ball and roll out flat. I rolled mine out about 1/3 of an inch, but I also knew I wanted to squish it out a little flatter once I cut the shapes out.

Cut out your hearts, or if you want, free form them.%u00a0 What I did was used my tiny heart cookie cutter to cut the initial shape, but then used my thumb and squished them all out a bit bigger.

Note here.. Hears are awesome and amazing, but other shapes….Go for it. You probably have a shit tone of those pin backs.

And just before you bake them, make sure that the pins you are using will fit behind the hearts. (if you notice any visible pin, just smoosh the heart out a little more).

Into the oven,, out of the oven. Read the package to make sure, but the stuff I used only needed to be baked for 15 minutes at 275

Once out of the oven, let completely cool and harden.

Once the hearts are cooled, go ahead and paint them. Use straight up one color, or mix and make a few different shades. (red, white and pink are nice together)

You can add some glitter to the wet paint to add a little bling….

Or add designs or what have you. Do whatever feels right.

Now stick a pin thingy on the back of each heart with a blob of glue. (If you use the E600, make sure to use it near a window or somewhere ventilated.. it really stinks for a few minutes)

Let the glue dry (this glue was completely dry within an hour, but follow glue package instructions)

And if you want, grab the sharpie, make sure the paint is really dry (at least an hour) and write a little something on the hearts.

And now the hard part.. which one goes to who and which one (or 4) do you keep for yourself. (you can always make more!)

Have fun!

-C

It%u2019s that time of year again. Time to make the hot sauce!

This year I wanted to do a little twist on my usual plain old jalape%u00f1o hot sauce. And to be honest, I wanted to use up the pineapple juice that I had stashed away in the pantry that I was using to make popsicles for the littles all summer. But mostly it%u2019s because pineapple and jalape%u00f1o are a fantastic flavoring pairing and I knew that adding the pineapple to the hot sauce would only be a great idea.

A great idea it was.

This hot sauce is basic. Hot peppers, vinegar, and a little onion, garlic, and salt. The pineapple juice adds more body, some sweetness, and just a nice undertone of pineappleiness that you didn%u2019t know you really wanted. It is really really good. And about the jalape%u00f1os. They are one of those peppers that can be pretty mild but also can get pretty dang hot. I am not sure of the variety that I have been picking at that farm for the past few years (that is where I get my peppers), but they are always on the pretty dang hot side so my hot sauces always have a good amount of kick to them. If you find your peppers to be a little too mild for you, well go ahead and add a few habaneros to the mix.

Now to the hot sauce!

The stuff. Jalape%u00f1os of course (green, red, or both. I picked both), an onion, a couple cloves garlic, pineapple juice, white vinegar, and salt.

Chop onion and garlic up into chunks on the small side.

Jalape%u00f1os. Chop them up. You want to get rid of the stems and depending on how hot you want your sauce, you might want to remove the seeds and ribs. I don%u2019t bother because we like it hot, but also it%u2019s annoying. HA.

Note. When dealing with any hot peppers, make sure to not touch your face during or after. You will feel it. They are hot.

Toss it all into a pot. Sprinkle with salt and add a splash of water. Place on stove on medium heat to give the peppers and onion a little head start on cooking.

After softening the peppers and onions for about 10 minutes, add the liquid.

Partially cover with a lid and simmer the peppers until they are fall apart tender. Probably about 35-40 minute.

Peppers so soft, ready to go.

Let it cool a few minutes then dump it all Into a blender. Blend until completely blended.

Smooth as smooth can be.

Taste it (like dip a carrot of a piece of bread into it) and add more salt if nessacery. Also, if it is too thick for your liking, add a little water to thin it out.

Hot hot hot sauce for the taking.

And look here, enough for you and maybe even a friend or two%u2026 Holidays are coming!

Enjoy the sauce!

-C

makes between 5-6 cups

• 25-30 good sized jalape%u00f1os (green or red or both)

• 2-3 cloves garlic

• 1 medium yellow or white onion

• 2 cups pineapple juice or puree

• 2 cups white vinegar

• 2 teaspoons salt

• water

Cut the onion into small chunks and roughly mince the garlic. Grab jalape%u00f1os and remove stems. Remove seeds and ribs if you want less heat in the sauce, then chop into small pieces. Place the onion, garlic, and peppers into a big pot with a splash of water. Sprinkle with salt and stick on stove on medium heat and cook for 5-10 minutes or until you can smell the onion and peppers starting to cook.

Dump in the pineapple juice and 1/2 the vinegar. Stir and bring to a boil. Once boiling, partially cover then reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 30-40 minutes or until peppers are very tender.

NOTE.. Have a window open or exhaust fan going.. the fumes are spicy!

Once peppers have soften, remove form heat and let cool a few minutes. Dump or scoop the contents of pot into a blender. Add in the remaining vinegar and blend until very smooth. Once blended, taste and season with more salt if needed. Also if the consistency is to thick for your liking, add in a little water to thin out.

And then bottle it. Whatever sized jars you like, just make sure the lids are not metal if you can avoid it. The acidity of the vinegar will corrode the metal.

Add a label, stick in fridge, and eat on whoever the heck you want! (Also makes a great gift and there is defiantly enough here to give some away!)

Note. It only gets better with age!

I talk a lot about how much coffee I drink (and yes, I do drink a lot of coffee) but honestly, I drink just as much if not more tea. Almost always herbal, sometimes a bag, sometimes loose leaf. In the cold months I probably drink 5 cups a day (well actually I drink it out of big ball jars and drink 2-3 of those big jars a day) So yeah, I drink a lot of tea too.

This tea blend is one of my favorites. Licorice is delicious. Sweet and spicy, not to mention fantastic for any respiratory ailments you might be having (licorice root is one of my go to%u2019s for medicinal purposes) Adding all the other spices just brings even more amazing spicy goodness that will make your house smell amazing and make you face smile a smile. A perfect tea to place on the stove to sip on all day, warm your insides and hands (best cure for cold hands is a hot mug) and most likely put you in a cheery festive mood because we are in the thick of all the holidays and sweet and spicy mulled hot drinks will do that to a person.

Take a few minutes, make some tea, and take care of yourself. It will be good. Trust.

To the tea!!

The stuff. Cut and sifted licorice root, whole or hulled cardamon pods (use one or the other), whole cloves, a couple cinnamon stick, some fresh ginger, and and orange.

Not much needs to be done, just slice the ginger into a few thin pieces (you don%u2019t even need to peel it) and peel the good parts of the orange off (avoid the white pith) then add it to a pot with the spices and that%u2019s pretty much it.

Pot full of spices. It%u2019s gonna be good.

And we can%u2019t forget to add in the water cause tea needs water. Bring the pot to a nice boil on the stove for a few minutes then pull it off the heat.

Set hot tea to steep for like 10 or so minutes.

Strain steeped tea into mugs.

Pssss.. You can re-steep all the tea bits if you want. I have resteeped mine like 3 times!

Add a festive common stick and slice of orange to (squeeze the juice into the tea.

Now take in all the cozy sweet feels, sip, and enjoy.

-C

Makes 3 large cups (plus more if you want to re-steep spices)

• 2 teaspoons cut and sifted Licorice root

• 1/2 teaspoon whole cloves

• 4-5 whole cardamon pods or 1 teaspoon hulled cardamon

• about an inch and a half of fresh ginger

• An orange

• 1-2 whole cinnamon sticks

• 36-40 oz of water

Peel or zest the orange (not the white part,) and slice the ginger into a few thin pieces. Place into a big pot along with all the spices and the water. Place pot on stove and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes then turn heat off and let tea steep for 10 minutes.

After steeping, strain into cups. Slice orange into segments and serve tea with a squeeze of fresh orange juice. IF you feel fancy, a cinnamon stick too. Feel free to sweeten tea to taste, but I think you will find that it is sweet enough.

Drin kind enjoy.

Note. After you strain the tea, place the spices back into the pot. Add more water. boil and steep again. These spices can be used for a few rounds of tea

What are you doing this weekend? It is suppose to be cold and rainy (if not snowy) and crappy and just not a good weekend to be hanging outside, which makes it the perfect weekend to spend some time inside, SPRING CLEANING! Haha. Doesn’t cleaning get you excited? No, well,%u00a0sorry for you. Me, I like to clean, and I really like to tackle jobs that really really need to be tackled, like cleaning out the fridge. And a crappy weather spring weekend is probably the best time to do it.%u00a0

The refrigerator. My pride and joy of the kitchen. It’s an old harvest gold Fridgaire from like 1970. This is the fridge I spent almost a year hunting down and finally finding on craigslist from a man who was cleaning out his dead mothers house. The fridge that I almost gave up on when I couldn’t find it and almost bought a big stainless steal thing instead.mBut last minute, I found it, like it was %u00a0meant to be. And this fridge has a story all of it’s own. It was a prize won by on of the ladies daughters from a cereal company contest.%u00a0The family kept it for all these years and took such good care or it because of that.%u00a0A well cared for and loved fridge.%u00a0It is a good one with faux wood trim and metal shelving. It keeps my food cold and frozen %u00a0(sometimes frozen when it shouldn’t be. The back top shelve %u00a0in the fridge has a few cold spots the might freeze whatever is there. My solution to that is to not stick things in the cold spots.) and is just as pretty as can be. Some people question it, don’t understand why I didn’t just buy a matching fridge to my stainless steal stove, but you know what, if you don’t like it, well I really don’t care. It makes me happy and I love it.

And to what goes on on the inside. To know me is to know what is inside of my refrigerator. It is always packed. There is and always will %u00a0be carrots, beets, lemon, cabbage, turmeric, greens, greens, and more greens in there. There will always be some hummus of some kind, mustard, bread dough, tofu,%u00a0and lots and lots of any and every veggies you can think of. Plus a bunch of %u00a0jars and container, which I have a bad habit of not placing lids on all the time, full of lentils and beans, rice, and quinoa. %u00a0There is usually a %u00a0baked sweet potato or some squash and more likely the not, tomatoes and plant milk. In the freezer, well that’s getting pretty empty now, but after harvest in the fall, it is packed to the brim with bags of frozen veggies. Now it has a few bags of veggies, frozen bananas and berries,flours, and nuts. But the fridge,%u00a0The fridge is always full. And it an get a little messy….

And now I it’s time to clean it out.%u00a0

I spot clean and straighten it out often. Usually before I pick up farm share I go through it and tidy up, make more space, and pull stuff out that needs to be eaten first. But that is just the surface cleaning. Stuff gets sticky, stuff gets stuck, and especially with veggies, stuff gets dirty.%u00a0%u00a0Spot cleaning has a place but it’s not cutting it anymore. It’s spring and it’s time for a full fledge deep clean.%u00a0

Now I know most people have their own methods for cleaning but here are a few tips and techniques that I have to tackle the beast.

-Prepare. You don’t want to just go at it without a plan and supplies. Get out your cleaning supplies. Grab a recycling can and a compost bucket, and have a big lean surface ready to place stuff on. The vacuum or a broom should be handy too.%u00a0

–Cleaning solutions. It is a fridge so you don’t want to be cleaning it with a bunch of chemicals. What I use is a vinegar solution. 50/50 white vinegar and water and a squirt of dish soup. It cleans, degreases, disinfects, and won’t kill you.%u00a0

–An empty sink or bathtub to wash all the drawers and shelving off.%u00a0

–A few clean containers. Just have them on hand,%u00a0with lids, to place stray things roaming around in there.%u00a0

–Clean from%u00a0%u00a0top to bottom. This avoids crap falling into something you already cleaned.

–Labels. Any containers that are not clear might benefit from a label. And if you tend to leave things in the fridge for a long time, a label for the date of opening is also a good idea.%u00a0

–Inventory. Knowing what is in the fridge is very important, this prevents food waste.

–Too many condiments. I don’t know how many times I have looked in peoples fridges and seen 5 different bottles of ketchup or Italian dressings open. Consolidate. %u00a0And if you don’t like it or don’t use it, get rid of it.

–Wipe it all down. Not just the fridge itself, but all the stuff going back into it. So many times I have stuck the soy sauce in the door and had it leaked all over.%u00a0

–Know your fridge and place accordingly. Most people don’t have super old fridges, but even the new ones have some quirks. Know if there are cold spots or dead zones or places that things get stuck and place food accordingly. Also think about where you are placing food. It don’t make sense to but the milk way in the back if you use it all the time.

–Under and behind. Don’t forget to clean under the fridge and behind the fridge. It will be dusty, maybe a little gross, but it must be done.

–Music. A good playlist is always going to make you better are cleaning.

As for the Use it Up Soup, do just that.%u00a0This is the perfect time to use up what you got. I know that I have way more veggies then the average person, but don’t let that stop you. You could even pull stuff out and fill in missing ingredients form the store if you want. And be creative, %u00a0pickled hot peppers, all the frozen veggies, any wilted greens. Even almost empty bottles of mustard. If you think it sounds good in soup,%u00a0use it up. Add some canned tomatoes and a handful of spice, you are gonna end up with something tasty.

. A clean fridge and soup, how can it get any better?%u00a0