Yesterday morning, there was an internet outage in our neighborhood. Also, Lindsey and Austin are on the East Coast. So, there was no Renny's Recipe yesterday, nor any other post since I couldn't get on the internet. Sigh. But! Never Fear because Friday Faves is here! (Too corny, sorry). And our question for this week? Where is your favorite travel destination within the United States? Lindsey and Austin are in the East for a sad reason. It is for Austin's grandmother's memorial service. But, there are always bright spots in these situations. She had a long, good life. Austin and Lindsey can visit with family out there and enjoy some of their respective "old haunts" together. Austin is from the East Coast, and Lindsey went to Law School in Vermont. The weather in Phoenix is so miserable right now, it is nice for them to be away from it. We did a Friday Fave a while ago about our favorite places to visit out of the country, so we thought we would try some places closer to home this time. Lindsey has driven across the country many times, so I wondered if she would choose someplace in the East as her favorite destination. But, in the end, I did guess her favorite spot correctly! I guess you can't really call the most remote place in the world "close to home", but it is a part of the United States! Lindsey was able to attend BYU Hawaii for a summer term in her undergrad years and she has never forgotten how much she loved it there. She says it was exotic, beautiful and perfect! Alicia is the one who chose a place on the East Coast! After she graduated from High School, we took her on a trip back east where we visited with out dear friends, the Lyddys! They took us sight seeing to some fabulous historical places. Alicia fell in love with Boston! I loved it, too. There is so much to see, so much history and so much good food! Alicia left there with a pair of shorts that said "Boston" across the rear! Alicia says she also loves the beaches on the Atlantic. The water is warmer and they were beautiful! Madalynn chose a place a little closer to home and easier to get to! San Diego! Her first trip to San Diego was in the 6th grade and she has loved it ever since. Here is a photo from that time. She will kill me, but it is worth it. Since that time, she has found chances to take trips to San Diego with friends when she can. It is a beautiful place! And what is my choice you ask? Well at first I was going to pick Nauvoo, Illinois because I love it there. But, let's face it, this time of year will be hot and muggy there on the Mississippi River. So, I would be lying if I didn't share my all time favorite place to go! I know, I am like a kid when it comes to Disneyland. The magic of it just overtakes me and lives in me. You can always cool off by going down Splash Mountain, (I scream), or on Grizzly Rapids. Or, go on the inside rides that are air conditioned. My first time to Disneyland was when I was 5 years old. I remember having to use the tickets and saving the treasured E tickets for the best rides. I remember my big sisters taking me when I would visit them in the summer. I wrote about our most recent trip here. I have so many happy memories of this place, and I love to go and I love to take people who have never been because you just can't do it justice with mere words. So, those are some of our favorite places in the States. What are yours? There are so many, we would love to visit them all. Wouldn't you?
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I was clearing out some shelves that hadn't been looked at in years when I came across an old soap making kit Alicia had when she was younger. I remember that originally it had glycerin based soap in it. It also had dyes and molds for soap making. She had a lot of fun with that, so I had purchased a cream based soap for her to continue with it. Shortly after that, she must have lost interest because when I found the kit, it still had most of that soap in it.
I looked online to see if the same kit was still available. I didn't see it, but here is a similar one. Also here. This one is cute for kids.
The soap base was no longer labeled, but I am guessing it is a glycerin based product like this or this.
I decided it would be fun to make some soap and give it to her to go with the baby gifts I am working on. I know that lavender is a great essential oil to induce relaxation and sleep, and I love how oatmeal makes my skin feel. It is so soothing. So I decided to make a Lavender-Oatmeal soap.
First, I weighed out about 6 oz of the soap base and started melting it in a clean #10 can sitting inside a pan of water. You can also try melting it in the microwave.
Here are some silicone molds available on Amazon. Here are some pretty flower shaped ones!
When the soap was all melted, I filled the molds about 1/2 full. The amount of soap I made was enough for 2 round bars.
I bought my tissue paper and the Baker's Twine at Dollar Tree! It comes in packs of 3 for just $1.00 (or course). I love this stuff, I have used it for so many things!
Here is a free Kindle e-book!
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A few years ago, we lost my sister, Sandi, to a heart attack. In the picture of a part of my family above, She is in the front row. The void that would be there without her in that picture is keenly felt in our hearts. She was a force to be reckoned with and she was always up for a trip or adventure! Sandi loved to have fun! One of my last memories of her was with my two youngest children as she taught them to do the Ski Jump on the Wii! She was really good at it!
Sandi was my 2nd oldest sibling, I am #6 of 7 children. She took care of me lots of times and when she married and was living in southern California, we younger siblings would go visit her and my oldest sister Donna and they would do all kinds of fun things with us! One of the things that Sandi and I both liked to do was decorative painting. (You can see a video of painting a flower here!) I have many painted items that she did for me as gifts, and that I copied because she would come up with some really cute stuff! One of the things she did for me was a set of wooden blocks that went perfectly with my collection of bird houses. The blocks stacked on each other just right and said, "Love grows in little houses." I loved that saying, not only because it matches the idea of bird houses, but because I have always lived in tiny houses and I have found that saying to be true.
That little bird feeder is by Marjolien Bastin. I have a few ornaments, figurines and artwork by her, and I love them. Here are some examples of her work. A wren's house, a cardinal and a bluebird. Oh! I can't forget this owl!
Anyway, I decided it would be nice to make a printable of that saying to share with our subscribers! If you aren't a subscriber yet, don't feel bad because it is super easy to subscribe to our blog! Just scroll up to the top and type in your email and we will send you the link to our special subscriber's page! I am loving this 8 x 10 printable in my living room! I hope you love it, too.
Thanks to my sister Sandi! I think of her whenever I read this little message.
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We are beginning monsoon season in Phoenix. That means high temperatures coupled with dust storms and thunderstorms. That also means that our dry heat turns into humid heat. It is a love/hate relationship because we love the rain and thunder, but the heat and humidity are killers. Our air conditioners start running non-stop and while a pool will cool us off, fighting the storms and dust which turns them green over night is a constant battle. And that is why ovens don't come on and we turn to cooler foods to help us fight the heat. Thus, today's Friday Fave question:
What is your favorite summer salad?
I thought that this would be a pretty simple question, but I apparently didn't understand Lindsey's
dislike of salad greens. She only really eats them because she knows that they are good for her. She doesn't like lettuce, arugula makes her sick. She will use spinach, but doesn't really like it in a salad, and she can't stand cabbage! Happily, there are salads that do not require leafy lettuce in them! Lindsey loves a good chicken salad! She actually posted a recipe for a great one on Renny's Recipes one week! Although she wrapped it in romaine, the goodness of the Almond Butter Chicken Salad over powered the lettuce! Click the link and check it out if you have forgotten it. I do love a good chicken salad with grapes in it!
Conversely, Alicia loves salad so much that she could hardly decide what to choose! She and Lindsey both went for the Strawberry Spinach Salad at first. Doesn't this one from foodiecrush look good? But then they both went a different way. Alicia chose the Watermelon Spinach Salad that we posted here, originally from Spoonful of Flavor. I have some watermelon on hand right now! I need to make this again. The dressing alone is just so delicious!
Maddy went a different direction by saying that she loves a good pasta salad. Her favorite ingredients are the colorful twisty pasta, black pepper, finely chopped sweet peppers and a little bacon. I love a good Italian pasta salad with some pepperoni in it. This Italian Pasta Salad on I Wash You Dry looks so good. They even have a video to show you how to do it.
I love a really flavorful salad. Like LIndsey, the lettuce isn't my favorite part. I like all of the other parts of a green salad the best! I do love a good taco salad! We posted a vegan version here. But, I am going to go back to the Apple Blueberry Spinach Salad that I came up with back in September. The candied pecans and the Blueberry Maple Dressing are just so unique and delicious. If you had forgotten about it, be sure to check it out again! There is another bonus salad on that post as well.
While we are talking salad, don't forget to get a little style going with your salad service! Remember when we got these wooden salad tongs from our affiliate, Dollar Tree, and decorated them on this post? Making a pretty summer version could be lots of fun!
So, beat the heat and have some salads this summer! What is your favorite salad?
Also, for our subscribers, if you go to your special subscriber link, there is a new printable for you. You get the first peek before we blog about it on Monday! (Hint: if you aren't a subscriber yet, but want to subscribe, you can still do so right now! I will send you the link in an email!) Talk to you again on Monday!
Wait! P.S.! Be sure to get ready for Amazon Prime Day on July 11! There will be some great deals. Get on early to get the best deals. If you click there through our link to shop, it won't cost you any more, but it will sure help us out!
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Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
April 2024
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