Holiday Gift Idea #2: Something for the Furry Kids

I can't lie, my fur-babies are, without a doubt, more privileged than my sons could have ever dreamed. A good example is bedtime - Picture this, its 10pm and my husband comes into the room ready to climb into bed only to find our 90-lb Labrador has taken his spot and is snoring deeply, occasionally kicking a foot out as he likely dreams of chasing the bunnies that frequently visit our yard. My husband looks down at our dog, Mousse, grabs a pillow and lays down at the foot of the bed.  When I say, "Honey, just move Mousse off the bed." 

His response is classic, "No, I don't want to disturb him, he looks really peaceful." 

Thank heavens we have a king-size bed. Neither of us would ever get a good-night's sleep. So yes, thoroughly spoiled and have us wrapped completely around their...dewclaws. 

A couple years ago we discovered Whisker Biscuits at the Christkindlmarkt in Bethlehem, PA. We introduced the treats to our dogs, and they absolutely LOVED them. In fact, they literally bark at me after work and run with tails wagging to the cabinet where I keep their Whisker Biscuit treats. The reaction is so impressive, last year we sent our grand-pups the Whisker Biscuit Big Sack for Christmas. We were able to ship it directly to them as a gift. It is filled with a variety of their popular treats. My son reported the same reaction we experienced with our dogs. His Huskies were crazy in love with the treats and they usually turn their nose up at all snacks. 

If you are looking for a unique winner of a gift for the special canine in your life, I highly recommend a bag of Whisker Biscuits. Your fur-baby will be thrilled! 

 

Holiday Gift Idea #1: Intelex Warmies Slippers

Imagine slipping your chilly toes into a pair of toasty warm slippers. It can happen. These Intelex Warmies Slippers are my first Santa's Little Helper suggestion when looking for gift-giving ideas this season.

Rated with 4.5 Consumer Stars (2,171 consumers reporting), these off-brand slippers beat out the Warmie brand by a full star and more than $10.00 price difference.

The final selling point, the slippers are filled with millet grains that hold in the heat when you microwave them (no more than 60 seconds at a time) and dried lavender flower to sooth and relax. 

As a gift, I would box these up with a bottle of Baileys Irish Cream, a holiday mug, and a cute card that sends warm holiday wishes from head to toe. 

Making Dulce de Leche : Its Easier Than you Think

Happy Sunday to you! Last week I offered to help you get through the next few weeks with some helpful hints that will ease the planning, preparing and overall STRESS that goes into the holiday season.

Today I’m going to introduce you to the simplest and most cost-effective way to make homemade Dulce de Leche (Caramel Sauce). Imagine pairing your kitchen creation tied with a cute ribbon around the lid, tucked into a box with a set of tulip sundae cups, a jar of sprinkles and a gift card to a local ice cream shop. What a cute gift for a friend, teacher or co-worker.  

If you have ever made caramel, it can be time consuming and, speaking from experience, if not watched closely, it can turn out grainy. I’ve thrown out more bad batches of sauce than I care to admit. So, when I discovered a no-fail method to make Dulce de Leche (sounds so gourmet), I was all over it.

Here’s how you make your own Caramel Sauce. You will need:

A crockpot

2 - 4oz. canning jar(s)

1 - 8oz. can Sweetened Condensed Milk (I like Eagle Brand but any brand will work)

Water

 Directions:

1)    Open the can of sweetened condensed milk and split it between two 4 oz. canning jars

2)    Screw the lids on the jars tightly

3)    Place the jars in a crockpot

4)    Fill the crockpot with water until it covers the top of the lids

5)    Turn the crockpot to LOW and let it cook for 8 hours – Making sure to keep an eye on the water level so that it does not fall below the top of the lids. Add more water if it does.

6)    Once the 8 hours is up, turn the crockpot off and all ow the jars to cool for a short time before removing them from the crockpot

7)    The jars should be pulled out of the water and can sit on the counter until they are completely cool

8)    Open the jars and stir

9)    Caramel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks (if it lasts that long).

**Hint: Play with the time that the sauce stays in the crockpot – 8 hours will result in a think creamy sauce. If you want it to be thinner with more of a drizzle consistency, shorten the time to 6 hours.

** Hint: I used 2 cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk to make 5- 4oz jars.

Homemade Vanilla Extract

Few gifts compare to those that are lovingly baked in your own kitchen. Pumpkin bread, decorated cookies or any other goodie send a message that you took the time to make something special just for them. 

Taste is a big deal to me when it comes to baking. One of my secrets is using my own Vanilla. It makes a noticeable difference. So much yumminess!

Here’s what you’ll need to make your own:

4oz glass vanilla bottles

Funnel

Madagascar Vanilla Beans (need two stalks per bottle)

Vodka (any brand will work. I use Tito’s)

Directions:

Wash and dry the bottles thoroughly

Cut each vanilla bean stalk in half and slice each of the halves lengthwise. 

Gently open up the pod slightly to expose the vanilla beans,

Drop 4-6 halves into the bottle

Using the funnel, slowly pour vodka into the bottle(s)

Cap the bottle(s) and add a label (if you choose)

Store in a dark cool location to brew. Gently shake once a week. Allow vanilla to “brew” for at least 6-8 weeks before using. For best results, brew for 4-5 months.

If this all sounds like too much, I have 4oz bottles I sell for $10/bottle. Ready for use now;  8oz bottles will be ready for gifting in mid-December. $20/bottle. Message me if interested. #teacakesntidbits

Bring on the Hallmark Holiday Movies!

Yesterday my friend sent me the upcoming Hallmark Countdown to Christmas schedule. My first thought (for about half a second) was, “Christmas movies, already? Really?” But then, something happened. My inner ELF pushed her way past my “It’s Fall Y’all” hoodie-wearing state of mind, announcing with glee, “OMG… OMG…its HERRRRE!!!!”. (Picture Gollum’s joy when he finally takes back the Ring from Frodo in Mount Doom in Mordor- 1:27 into the above link). 

Odd that I visualize Gollum jumping up and down in delight after biting off Frodo’s finger as I think of my inner elf…but…well…it is…what it is. Unfortunately, if you’ve never seen Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, then my analogy makes no sense and you will have to accept that I am very excited to see the Hallmark schedule because it means that Christmas in on its way!

In all transparency, my inner elf is always hanging around somewhere just waiting to pop out. While there are some who would argue that Halloween hasn’t even arrived, I live in a world of Christmas planning at least 9 months out of every year. No, it’s not about being “extra”, I just LOVE Christmas. The weather, songs, holiday spirit, baking, crafts, closeness with friends and family…especially the time with my family. By the time the holiday actually rolls around, I sit back sipping my Cosmo, sympathetically listening to all my friends complaining that the season snuck up on them and they have no idea what to do...while visions of sugar cookies dance in my head.

Given that we only have 9 weekends left until Christmas Day (I know…it’s okay, breathe) I’m going to help you out. Come back here for a visit between now and December 25th to find simple decorating ideas, gifting favorites, special recipes and a few “extras”.  

Please share your stories and let me know if something I posted was helpful to you. It will bring a season of joy to my Christmas Critter heart.  

P.S. For the Hallmark Checklist App, follow this link.

#teacakesntidbits #hallmarkchannel                             

Searching for Normal

Its been almost 2 months since I posted to my blog. On this personal journey to find some semblance of "normal" I can tell you that the struggle continues to be very real but I'm getting closer to internal peace.

If you followed our journey, we left PA in mid-September with the intent to return in late February. The plan took shape, we bought a 30ft camper and happily headed west. Six weeks later we were back home. The adventure was fun but we realized that the part we most enjoyed, included our family. 

A few days back and our son calls to ask if we were still planning to be with them for Thanksgiving. Hummm, while it had been our original plan, now, given that we were home and the camper was winterized and tucked away at the storage site, we would need to discuss it. The deliberation took about a day with the biggest challenge involving the care of our pets while away. Our regular sitter was unavailable over the holiday. More discussion ensued and by the end of the day, the holiday trip had become an extended road-trip and a stay in Kansas through December. The fur-babies would be coming along...provided we promised that Peka, our Siberian Husky, would not eat any of the cats (let's just say that Peka's history precedes her). 

My son and his wife own a 20 acre property in SE Kansas. I'd say we are socially distanced (from everything). 

While normal has not involved our home with the traditional decorations, lights and entertaining that most holidays bring, it has provided the comfort of being close to our family...the silver lining to the whole pandemic. Without the flexibility of remote work, I would never have had the opportunity to spend this quality time with those who are most dear to my heart.

So, I sit her in a room that is designated as "mom's office". There are Christmas decorations on the desk and a Poinsettia on the nightstand (curtesy of my daughter-in-law). My green screen is behind me for those office-looking Zoom meetings and, at this moment, I feel...at peace...blessed...normal. 

       Without virtual background                                    With Virtual Background

This weekend we are doing a lot of holiday baking. In my world, that is a VERY normal event. Maybe, to some extent, I have at least found my Christmas normal. Family, laughter, great meals, cookie baking and twinkly lights. "Normal" feels closer than it has in months. 

xo

Home Sweet Home

Well my friends, what was intended to be an adventure across the country, wintering in San Marcos, TX with 75 degree temperatures in January, gradually evolved into a wonderful 6 week trip with stops at the Outer Banks, Pigeon Forge, Muscle Shoals and Oklahoma City. We spent quality time with our family and we will talk about the camp sites, sunsets and fireside conversations for years to come.

 

Why did we come back so soon? If I said "work", that wouldn't be exactly accurate. The better response is, "I didn't consider how I work". I'll be honest, I love my work. I look forward to waking up and tackling whatever is laid in front of me on any given day. I've been this way for as long as I have had a career. So, the challenges of being on the road, away from the wide-open space and conveniences of my home office, grew more noticeable each week. One morning Nick said, "can you believe there are only 12 weeks left before Christmas?" All I heard was, "Can you believe that you still have 12 more weeks of being cramped up with your laptop, 10 hours a day, before we are at your dad's?" THAT is when reality kicked me in the head, knocking me out of the adventurous ideas I had conjured up about glamping, fireside chats, and the carefree, easy-going, low-maintenance tiny home life that we had temporarily adopted. As hard as it was going to be to open the conversation with my husband, it would be 10 times harder to do 12 more weeks of "THIS".

 

         An evening with Connor and Delaney in Oklahoma

Looking back, I have not a single regret about doing something so completely out of my comfort zone. We had a lot of fun on our adventure. Several weekends were with family and most of our evenings often began with a delicious dinner at a local restaurant favorite (thanks to Yelp) followed by a beverage and a campfire.  What I'll treasure most during those weeks was that we were able to slow down the pace of our life for a minute. We took walks. We searched for constellations during those fireside chats. We valued the time with one another. All great things that we need to do more of...and we will!

    When we saw this sign, I felt so close to home!

Fast forward, its been 10 days since we arrived back home. The travel trailer is at the "camper spa" getting winterized and detailed before we store it for the winter. There are still a few things to put away from the trip and then life will be back to normal...with the added appreciation of Pennsylvania and the colors of Fall from our backyard.

For those of you who followed our little journey these past weeks, thanks for the messages and support along the way. Its time to shift gears, do some baking, a little decorating and start preparing for the holidays... oh, how I love being HOME. 

The Struggle is Real

Not really...the struggle is pretty much over. It started this time last week. "Do we stay or do we go?" As in...go home. Boy, did I struggle. I am certain that my husband is convinced that I am a lunatic. One day I want to keep moving along on the adventure and the next, I miss home and friends...baking and fall decorating. His response...every single time..."whatever you want to do, honey." Believe it or not, sometimes, agreeing with me is NOT an option I prefer. So, last Sunday, I put it in God's hands. I said a prayer and asked for a sign.

An evening chilling out by the fire. The tent space is my new "office" that Nick set up as an option other than the camper.

On Monday morning I got up at 5am, leashed up the pups and out the door we went for our usual early morning walk. I was probably 50 feet from the camper when I missed the step off of a curb and went down pretty hard, bracing myself with my left hand. You guessed it...injury! I was certain I had broken my hand. The pain was excruciating. My husband helped me up and got me back to the camper to begin icing. The first thought through my head, "Really God?! I asked for a sign, not a broken hand."

My hand feels even worse than it looks. Typing is a challenge. I keep hitting the  "caps'' button instead of the "a".

The rest of the morning was spent in Urgent Care. While I awaited the results of the x-ray I got a text from a dear friend that told me she missed me she had read my blog from the day before. She wrote that she could see I was struggling with the decision to go home. She then sent words of encouragement and a message that all would be the same when I got back. Her final message conveyed that I should enjoy the journey and this once-in-a-lifetime experience. As I was reading the text, it hit me that THIS was the sign. No more struggle, My head cleared and I found myself relax (other than the pain I was experiencing). By the way, the x-ray showed that my hand was not broken, just a severe sprain. It was going to be an uncomfortable next few days.

On Tuesday, as we were drinking our early morning coffee and icing my purple hand that resembled a balloon, I looked at my husband and said, "its time to go home. There is nothing we have here that we don't have better at home...aside from warm weather." There was no struggle. My mind was clear. The adventure has been worth everything we put into it, but as we talked, we discovered that the "fun" part was the stops along the way seeing our family and making all those new memories. 

In a few weeks it will be Thanksgiving. We will return to the Midwest for a week of quality time with those I love (my favorite thing), no work demands and nothing to do but enjoy every minute of the holiday. I am getting excited!

Tomorrow we head east with the goal of arriving home Sunday afternoon. We left PA exactly a month ago. It feels much longer. I'm excited to be back in my space. I've seen nothing on this adventure as beautiful as watching the sunrise above the Susquehanna River or set behind the mountains in rural Pennsylvania. I'll share a picture or two next week and we can enjoy it together. I'm going HOME.

Ciao!

Adjusting to "Normal"...Kinda

We've been at our long-term site for a week now. This new "normal", begins at 5:00am on most days. The workday begins at 7:00am (sometimes earlier) and ends around 5:00pm. Keep in mind, I'm now in the central time zone which means the work day has changed and not for the better. Particularly, the amount of time I spend sitting in the booth of our travel trailer.

I have to admit, there is nothing ergonomic about my workspace layout. I did not think through the lack of comfort I might experience during the day. Bottom line...you don't know, what you don't know. I thought about working at the picnic table but that all depends on the weather. If it's too hot or too windy, it's not happening. I've encountered both extremes since arriving in Oklahoma and the forecast confirmed that I would be working inside all week.

I caught a break when my dad called and invited my husband to join him for a few days of golf. Late afternoon on Wednesday, we loaded up the truck, left the camper at the site and drove the 3.5 hours to Wichita. The 10am tee-times on Thursday and Friday guaranteed me quite comfort during Zoom meetings in the dining room. What a treat! 

It's Saturday morning. We've been on our adventure for almost a month. The plan was to do this as long as it felt "fun". For me, in this phase of our adventure, the weekends are the only time this feels like "fun". The other five days are, as they were intended, regular workdays. While there are definitely new things to see and do on our adventure, I can feel the melancholy starting to set in. Today I found myself missing my house, the fall air, the leaves changing color and more than anything else, I missed our friends back home. I expected to miss a few things, mostly people at some point, but not a mere month into the adventure. I figured mid-November or early December. Definitely not October!

So it seems that in addition to underestimating the comfort level of my work space, I did not anticipate the degree of fondness I have for our life in Pennsylvania. This is a dilemma I'll need to work out in my head if we are to continue but I fear that the heart may win out. Stay tuned.

Lake Murray...We've Arrived

Its taken us 2-1/2 weeks to get here but we are settled in and working from Lake Murray in Ardmore, OK. for the next few weeks. Why this location? Easy, its a little over an hour from Connor & Delaney, our youngest son and his wife. Our hope is that we will have an opportunity to spend some quality time with them while we are in this area.

This is also our "make sure we like it" point in the adventure. This placeholder was the safety net for me more than my husband. Working from the dining space of our camper is where I will be for the next several weeks. After the first two weeks of adapting to the new space, the question is, "Can I do this for several more weeks?". The jury is still out. Its not ideal but, as with all things, there are trade-offs. So, I'll see how this week goes and assess again over the weekend. Apparently Mousse doesn't seem to have a problem with the digs at all. 

   Mousse fell asleep during my Zoom call 

Now on to our short-term address, Lake Murray State Park, located in south central Oklahoma, is its largest state park. The lake itself is spring-fed. Its a relatively small lake with only 6,000 surface acres. While we did not bring our kayaks on the trip (BIG HASSLE), we do intend to take in a little kayaking and boating on the weekends. 

 

                 One end of Lake Murray 

Our camp site is part of a private resort for RV'ers. We are across from a fishing pond. The view out that direction is meadows, farmland and the pond. The other side, well, its a view of other camper sites. 

                            A view from the tip of the fishing pond 

I have to say, the campers we've encountered on our trip have been pretty cool. We've not run into any rudeness, people clean up after themselves and their pets, and most give you a wave when they pass by (sort of a Midwest thing). Can you ask for better hospitality? Now, if we can just get the neighbors to plays Dominos. :)

 

                 Sundown at the campsite

Quick Stop in Hot Springs, AR

We made a quick weekend stop in Hot Springs, AR. Our plan was initially to check out the Springs, maybe schedule a massage while we were on Bathhouse Row. The cool temperatures and a little rain in the morning impeded our plans but we are agile, we switched gears and took a scenic drive through the National Forest. 

The majority of our Hot Springs, AR adventure took place at the KOA Campground. We’ve stayed at 4 KOA’s now and all have been really well maintained. They pick up your bag of trash in the morning and deliver ice or wood to your site if needed. Pretty sweet amenities when “roughin’ it”.

While the travel plan is to sight-see on the weekends, we skipped adventure yesterday and opted out for R&R. Perhaps it was the beautiful fall weather or the joy of having a leisure day with nothing on the to-do list but listen to music while sitting by the camp fire. Who knows...it just felt like the best of all options. Just to mix things up, I grabbed a nap as well. 

I probably get two naps a year...maybe. It just seems like there is too much to do to lose a couple hours in the middle of the day just sleeping...but in this alternative reality I am not constantly running. I have plenty of time to spoil myself with an afternoon siesta...and that is exactly what I did and Peka joined me.

Why is it, as a kid, we fight the idea of naps? They are AWESOME! While we are on our adventure, Saturday afternoon naps are going to be a more regular part of my weekend plan. I HIGHLY recommend them.

This morning we got up early and torn down camp. This  consists mostly of putting everything away inside the camper and then pulling all the plugs on the outside. After two weeks, we almost have our system down. I manage the inside checklist and Nick keeps us covered on the outside water, sewer (so happy he got this job) and electrical items. So far, this is working out pretty well.

By the day's end, we will be parked at a lake in Oklahoma through the rest of October. This will be the real test. Up until now we have been working our way over to this spot. Now we settle in to work and "normal" for awhile. Stay tuned.