Tag: holiday

My Snowman Obsession

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

Hello, my name is Rebecca, and I have an obsession with snowmen.

I find snowmen to be soooo cute. During the winter holidays my house is full of these whimsical characters. This year I found a way to add another one to the bathroom.

The way I calculate it the project was practically free. I always need soap in the bathrooms, so I would have bought it anyway, and I had the paint and brushes on hand from another project.

Snowman soap

I began with a bottle of white hand soap (well 2 actually).

Step one – remove the label. I have found that rubbing alcohol helps to remove the sticky residue that is left.

Step two – use acrylic paint to create a super cute face. A Q-tip works great for the dots.

Step three – when the paint is dry, wash your hands.

I loved how they turned out. I put one by my kitchen and the other one in the kids bathroom. The soap is now almost gone (I’m a little behind in posting my projects) but the face is still there.  These will be making another appearance at my home next December.

If you decide to make these, I would love to see some pictures.

National Gumbo Day

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

As the weather is starting to turn cooler and we are longing for something warm and comforting, gumbo is the perfect dish. Gumbo is a hearty stew-like dish loaded with flavor, and a little bit of spice, served over a bowl of steaming hot rice. I have shared my recipe in January (here). So head on over and make a pot for dinner tonight or print the recipe to save for another night.

Gumbo has always been a sore subject at my house. I grew up eating gumbo with okra. My husband detests okra. Not only does he not like the texture of boiled okra, he also hates the taste and will not even eat fried okra. So, for most of our marriage I made it without. But it was never quite right. My husband knowing how much I missed okra finally agreed to let me add it. Since then, he has come to accept okra and has encouraged me to make it with okra ever since.

Happy Gumbo Day!

gumbo 1

National Zucchini Day

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

Did you know that today is National Zucchini Day? This is not to be confused with National Zucchini Bread Day which is in April. Who comes up with this stuff?

From what I can tell, National Zucchini Day was developed for all those gardeners with green thumbs to allow them to get rid of their abundance by encouraging them to place unwanted zucchini on their neighbors porch.

Summer PastaSo, if you are fortunate to have a giving neighbor (or want to celebrate this quirky holiday) why not make a batch of Summer Pasta for dinner? This is one of my favorite dishes to make when I’m in a hurry to put dinner on the table. Dinner can be ready in the time it take to cook a batch of spaghetti noodles. Personally, I prefer my zucchini to have some bite left in it and not mushy. This is the perfect answer. (Click here for the recipe)

Chocolate Fudge

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

What would Christmas be without fudge! Fudge is one of those food that everyone has an opinion on.

  • nuts vs. no nuts (no nuts allowed in my fudge)
  • milk chocolate vs. semi-sweet (semi-sweet gives it a richer chocolate taste)
  • microwave vs. stove top (stove top – it has yet to fail me).
Fudge
Chocolate Fudge
adapted from “Jim’s Cat Daddy Fudge” recipe
1 small jar marshmallow creme
1  1/2 cup sugar
5 oz evaporated milk
1/4 cup un-salted butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
12 oz bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Combine marshmallow creme, sugar, milk, butter and salt in a large sauce pan. Bring to a full boil stirring constantly over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in chips until melted and mixture is smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour into a 8×10 pan lined with foil. Allow to set at room temperature for 2 hours before cutting into small squares.

Tips for making fudge
  • Stir constantly it will burn very easily
  • Semi-sweet chips give it a richer flavor

Lily B loves helping me in the kitchen. Her job is to stir the fudge constantly and not let it burn.

IMG_3162

Updated on 7/15/2013 to include printable recipe card Chocolate Fudge

Meringue Cookies

~ Life of Momma B ~ Leave a comment

One of my favorite Christmas cookies are meringues. You know, those light crispy sweet bites, that seem to melt in your mouth…  And yes, I know they are great anytime of year, but I seem to only make them in December.  I was surprised recently when a friend had never had them. Here is my recipe, I’m not sure where it came from but I have been using it for years.

Meringue

Meringue Cookies
2 egg white at room temperature
1/2 t cream of tarter
1/4 t vanilla
1/2 c sugar
*colored sugar* (optional)
Beat egg whites to a soft peak, while beating add cream of tarter and vanilla.
Slowly add sugar. Pipe onto parchment lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with colored
sugar if desired. Bake 1 hr 20 min at 200. Turn off oven (don’t open the
door) and leave in for 1 hour to crisp.
Tips for great Meringues
  • Use decorator tip #12, if you don’t have a decorators tip place the mixture into a quart bag and snip off the end.
  • The cookies do not spread much, so you can place them very close on the cookie sheet.
  • Be sure to measure the vanilla. I like to just guess, but I learned my lesson the hard way on these cookies

Updated on 7/15/2013 to include printable recipe card: Meringue Cookies