Make Your Own Bath Salts

I came across this recipe in a favorite cookbook of mine, The American Country Inn and Bed & Breakfast Cookbook, Volume 1, by Kitty & Lucian Maynard. It makes for a wonderfully fragrant, silky soak, but you must remember to be very careful about slipping when adding water softener and/or oils to your bath water!

*I do not know if you can still buy Calgon water softener, but I do know you can still buy their bath beads, which are scented, and also have moisturizing properties, so they would probably work as well.

The addition of the essential oil is something I've not tried, because I enjoy the scent of the Calgon, but it might be a nice addition. I got the idea from The Mamas Girls blog.

The Queen's Bath Salts

From The Queen Victoria Bed & Breakfast, Cape May, NJ

Makes 6 cups, enough for 12 baths

3 cups Epsom salts

1½ cups baking soda

1½ cups Calgon powdered water softener, in the laundry aisle*

10-20 drops essential oil, optional

Combine Epsom salts, baking soda & water softener in a mixing bowl. If desired, drop in the essential oil, and whisk until well incorporated.

Pour a half cup of bath salts into your bath water, and enjoy! (Be careful of slipping!)

Keep bath salts in a closed container.

Coffeehouse Toffee Triangles

Makes 36 cookies

Just Make These!

¾ cup butter (I always use salted), reserve the butter wrapper

¾ cup/100gm light brown sugar, packed

1 large egg yolk

1½ cups/180gm King Arthur AP flour

¼ tsp. salt

1 14-oz. can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

2 Tbs. butter

2 tsp. vanilla extract

12 oz. chocolate chips (I like Aldi's dark chocolate chips)

1 cup Almond Brickle or Heath Bits

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease or spray a 9x13" cake pan; set aside.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together the ¾-cup butter and brown sugar until smooth, about 3-5 minutes. Add the egg yolk, and beat in well. Stir in the flour and salt.

Using the buttery side of the butter wrapper, press the dough into the greased cake pan, in an even layer. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Cool in pan on a wire rack while you finish  preparing the toffee layer.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium, heavy saucepan, stir together the Eagle Brand and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over medium heat, stirring constantly., until bubbly. Cook and stir for an additional 5 minutes once the mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly and scraping down the sides of the pan. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla until incorporated.

4. Spread the toffee evenly over the baked layer, using an offset spatula, so you don't burn your hand (like I did.) Return the pan to the oven, and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes, until the toffee is golden. Clean the offset spatula for the next step.

5. Remove pan to stove top, and sprinkle chocolate chips over the top evenly. Return the pan to the oven for another 1-2 minutes. Remove pan from oven (turn oven off), and place on a wire rack. Spread the melted chocolate evenly over the cookie base.

6. Sprinkle the chocolate evenly with toffee bits, and press in, lightly. Cool on the rack for 1-2 hours, then cover and chill for several hours or overnight. 

7. Remove cookie layer from pan, (it comes out easily), and place on a cutting board. Using a chef's knife, cut it in thirds down its length, then cut each long bar in half. Each of these halves gets cut into three 2" bars (I use a ruler), then each bar is cut on the diagonal, to make 36 triangles.

Store airtight in the fridge (or not - I don't) for up to one week.

Enjoy!  These make great Christmas gifts for friends and family.

DIY Ink Cube Holder from foam core

I have seen (and coveted) those ink cube holders on YouTube that all my favorite paper-crafters use, but, cheapo that I am, I figured I could probably make one myself from foam core board. 

Here's how I did it:

I cut closely around the base of the ink cubes with a very sharp X-Acto knife, rounding the corners like they are on the cubes, and cutting completely through to my cutting mat. I glued the piece with the cutouts to a solid piece of foam core, and am thinking of gluing a piece of that rubbery, webbed sheet that keeps things from slipping (what do they call that, anyway?), so it won't move around on my desktop.

The cubes and their lids fit in it so snugly, I can turn it upside down without them falling out! It holds 4 cubes and their prospective lids, or I can use both the front and back rows for just the ink cubes, if I'm doing a lot of colors. 

I'm pretty much in love.

Printable Swatch Chart for Ohuhu 72 Alcohol Marker Set

I recently bought a set of 72 Ohuhu alcohol markers, and wasn't able to find a blank, printable swatch chart that I liked, so I made one. If anyone is interested in printing it out, click HERE for the link to the file. Happy Crafting!

How to Access Your Linked Cartridges in Desktop Cricut Design Space

Since I don't think anyone is actually reading this, I am posting the directions for how to access your purchased Cricut images that you've already linked to your account, in the new (2020 v5.7.24) version of Cricut Design Space, so that I can find it again, instead of spending a couple hours in Frustration-ville. I looked everywhere online, after spending a ton of time trying to find it on my own - all to no avail. So, Eureka! - I just found it, and here it is, in case anyone else is looking for their purchased cartridges. (Cricut keeps improving Design Space, but every time they do, something disappears down a rabbit hole.)

So first, in Design Space Desktop, click on 'New Project', then click on 'Images'.

In the left column, at the top, under "Highlighted categories", choose "Image Sets", then on the left, click on "Ownership", then "Purchased". Magically, your cartridges will appear!!!

Mini Egg Frittatas with Cherry Tomatoes

This is an adaptation of a REALLY delicious recipe from Fresh Thyme Farmers Market that is, sadly, no longer available on their website (don't you hate that?). It makes the BEST little egg frittatas in a muffin tin, that I've ever made, and if you check my Pinterest board, you'll know how many of these recipes  I've collected and tried. The cherry tomato halves make the frittatas, so don't skip them.

Mini Egg Frittatas with Cherry Tomatoes
Makes 12 regular-size muffins

• Non-stick olive oil cooking spray
• 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 (5 oz.) pkg. baby spinach, rough chopped
• ½ of a large red bell pepper, diced small (¼")
• ¼ cup finely chopped onion 
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• ½ tsp. crushed red pepper
• 7 large eggs
• ¾ cup 2% milk (I use 1%)
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (or Kosher)
• ¾ cup (90gm) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (I use 1 T. Kraft fat-free cheddar per muffin = ¾ cup) 
• ⅓ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I use dry pack) 
• 2 oz. deli ham, chopped small
• 18 cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a 12-cup, regular muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. In a 10-12" skillet, heat 1 tsp. oil over medium high heat. Chop spinach and cook for 3 minutes or until spinach is wilted, stirring constantly. Add garlic and crushed red pepper flakes, and cook for 1 minute more. Transfer spinach mixture to a clean kitchen towel or several layers of paper towels, cool for 5 minutes, and wring over sink to remove moisture (hot!); set aside in a medium bowl.

3. In the same pan, heat remaining 1 tsp. oil over medium heat. Cook bell pepper and onion for 3 minutes, or until tender. Add to spinach mixture

4. In a small mixing bowl with a pouring lip (or a 2-4 cup glass measure), beat eggs, milk and salt together; set aside.

4. Layer the spinach mixture (with the bell peppers and onions), cheese, sundried tomatoes, and ham evenly in the cups of the prepared muffin tin. 

5. Add egg mixture to each cup, filling almost, but not quite, to the top. (If you come up a little short on the last few, just borrow some of the liquid from the other cups  until all are evenly filled.) Top each muffin with 3 cherry tomato halves, placing them with cut-sides up, and slightly embedding them into the muffins. 

6. Bake 15-20 minutes, or until egg mixture is set and tops begin to brown (mine took 19 minutes). Cool 5 minutes in the pan before serving. (They will be beautifly puffed when they come out of the oven, but will, sadly, deflate as they sit. Still scrummy, though!) Serve as is, or with salsa and sour cream. These reheat well in the microwave on a medium power (5), until warm (microwaves vary, so I'll leave the time up to you - start with 20 seconds, and go from there), and they also freeze well, and can be reheated while still frozen, though I don't remember how long it takes ... do use a gentle power setting when heating/reheating an egg dish, though. I like '5' on my microwave.

I hope you try these - my delicious! ❤️

Old Fashioned Cherry Crisp

This is one of those just plain, down-homey kind of recipes. It goes together in just a few minutes, and tastes like Grandma made it. (Hey, I did!) 

I modified the recipe from another site, by halving the amount of sugar and flour, eliminating some unnecessary vegetable shortening, and adding some almond extract. I hope you give it a try - with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, of course.

I use King Arthur all-purpose flour, which weighs in at 120gm a cup, if you weigh your ingredients. Your flour may weigh more per cup.

 Old Fashioned Cherry Crisp

Makes 8 servings

Filling:
3 14.5-oz. cans (6 cups) pitted tart cherries, drained
¾-1 cup (150g) granulated sugar
⅜ teaspoon pure almond extract
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Pinch salt, optional

Pinch cinnamon, optional

Topping:
3/4 cup (90g) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (40g) old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
6-8 T. salted butter, cut into ¼" slices

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Butter an 8x8" baking dish.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all of the filling ingredients, and stir well. Pour into the prepared baking dish. 
3. In a food processor, combine the flour, oats, light brown sugar, and kosher salt. Pulse a few times to combine. Cut in the butter to make small crumbs, about 5 pulses in the food processor. Pour over top of the cherry mixture, and smooth out. 
4. Bake at 375° for 40-50 minutes, until bubbly and light golden brown. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.