Pallet for Home

I stress now & can not stress enough... Packaging & Presentation.  You MUST NOT skimp on these with your homemade gifts. Yes, what is on the inside counts but your presentation/packaging hold their attention. Intrigue, pulling them in with desire & appreciation for the time & effort you put into a gift JUST for them. It is what sets your gifts apart from the rest. 

 Think local & natural for a theme in your gifts.

 I came across an *article sharing "More than three-fourths of the honey sold in U.S. grocery stores isn't exactly what the bees produce", according to testing done exclusively for Food Safety news.

Food Safety News decided to test honey sold in various outlets after its *earlier investigation* {Honey Laundering} found U.S. groceries flooded with Indian honey banned in Europe as unsafe because of contamination with antibiotics, heavy metal and a total lack of pollen which prevented tracking its origin.

YIKES! And that is just with Honey.Once you have had Raw, unprocessed honey from a true bee keeper, you will forever be spoiled to the taste, color and texture.It is DiViNe! Either buy from a LOCAL beekeeper, or if you have your own hives, PACKAGE them up GOURMET STYLE! Truly people. The simple method is fine for selling to keep cost down. But should you GIFT them... Put more effort into it. If you from a local, there is nothing wrong with making a more gift worthy label. Just be sure to add the beekeeper information in respect to their work as well as giving the recipient a way to seek out where their gourmet honey can be purchased.

I LOVE the amazing Graphic Fairy and all she shares of antique/Vintage graphics. I pieced together bits I found on her site to create my own Gourmet Honey labels to adorn the Hexagon jars I grabbed up at The Flower Factory {12 jars for less then $7!}. The labels were finished up in Pic Monkey after a simple edit program for combining. Printed out at the local office supply store which I had done on the white linen resume paper, costing twice the normal printing cost for colored. Great for gifts but the not so much for paper labels in LARGE quantities. I found a natural twill cotton ribbon but do not favor it's thickness. It leaves me not so thrilled. It will do for now, but I am on the hunt for a cotton ribbon less "bulky".

  I discovered some great gift & special occasion recipes from a book entitled *Gifts from the Kitchen by Annie Rigg.*

I'm eyeing the Limencello recipe for an after the New Year treat. {This is a lemon infused vodka ,only the outer zest is used to produce the lemon essence. Have storage containers handy so as not to waste the excess lemon juice.- I highly recommend using a nice smooth Vodka. I have tasted many varieties from low to high end and have found Seagrams Extra Smooth Vodka with the dark blue label to be very fine.It is distilled 5 times from the finest American grain . My preferred cocktail Spirit. I pay $10 for the 750 ml- 80 proof bottle.}

 My kids LOVE Nutella. Personally I had never heard of this chocolate hazelnut version of Peanut Butter.  Thankfully Aldi's has their own {much less in cost} version. Now if I can only find a local source for Hazelnuts, I can eliminate the store version ingredient questionable's. This is not a healthy food. It is an indulgence of taste best for occasional eating.

Whip this up {double/triple etc to your needs} and use spring latch or unusual shape jars with lids for packaging. Add some *Homemade Graham Crackers* ,maybe *Raising Janes {Mary Jane Butter's daughter} recipe here* English Muffins, a small similar shaped tin of homemade nibbles or pretzels for dipping into the spread to the top of the Jar{s}.I LOVE me some Alton brown and recommend  should you wish to make some impressive Hard pretzels, try *his recipe here*. No need to make them into sticks. Just play with twisting to fit in a smaller tin. Secure your jar & tin with a pleasant ribbon or natural twine. Don't forget the label as well as all their recipes so they can make more themselves!

Makes One - 1 pound jar

1/2 Cup Blanched Hazelnuts

3 1/2 ounces DARK chocolate{72% cacao content}, chopped

1/3 Cup & 2 Tablespoons sweetened Condensed Milk

1-2 Tablespoons Hazelnut Oil

pinch of salt

3-4 Tablespoons Hot Water

Preheat Oven to 350 {F} degrees. Place Hazelnuts on cookie & toast 5-7 Minutes until pale golden color. Remove & let nuts slightly cool.

Put warm nuts into food processor & chop until almost smooth Paste texture.

Gently Melt Chocolate, condensed milk & hazelnut oil in saucepan over low heat.Stir until smooth & ADD TO the Hazelnut paste in food processor.

Add pinch of salt & blend. Add hot water & blend again until thick & spreadable consistency.

Spoon into Sterilized/clean Jar{s} & let cool. Place on lid & store in refrigerator.

This will keep in the fridge up to 2 weeks.

Do you prefer something long lasting? Maybe your just not feeling crafty. Then I HIGHLY encourage you to buy up a few of these* Cast Iron bread pans*. The exact same ones My Captain bought for me a few years ago. I'm not sure if they offer the custom engraving for the bread pans as he had done for my cast Iron Pie pans. But if they do, why not have it personalized while your at it. I refuse to bake my breads in anything else. What a difference they make and once you try it, you'll know why I'm hoping for a few more under the tree this year.

Sportsman's guide* is where their at. For under $17 each. The Captain LOVES buying from them and if you become a member {for $30 a year which gives you lower prices & optional payment plan for your purchases- no hidden or additional fees}. Very nice for budgeting gifts. Back to those pans.

A garland of pinecones




A pretty pine cone wedding bouquet




Garland by Two Shades of Pink




Painted pine cones




I love to make these and hang them around the house. 
I roll mine in glue and either gold, clear, or silver glitter. Photo via Country Living




Cute pine cone trees by The Swenglish Home




Clever pine cone place card holders by Project Wedding




Attractive pine cone wreath




Pine cone garland by Gonna Stuff A Chicken



Pine cone finial DIY from Martha Stewart



Giant pine cone sculptures made from shovels by Patrick Plourde


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There is one in the pathway which will be transplanted if it holds on until Spring. Weird really. Until this house, I had never had much luck with Chamomile. Now, it's sprouting by itself with vigor!

I made my way to the kale bed and found the rabbits must not detect them, being all tucked under more leaf mulch. The warmer days have the Red Russian seedlings we began in the ground last Fall, popping past their blanket.

I made my way out to the Elderberry patch for some inspection for determining IF they were spaced enough to move them further apart. My fear was their root systems being so close it would kill them to do a separation. We have been clearing the area not far from their spot in hopes to move a few into a row verse their wild sprouting of a cluster. The weather has been playing tricks on them as well. Green buds have begun to grow past their protective dormant shell.

Now off to inspect the Apple trees on the South yard side. I adore this apple tree which sits on a slight hill of the front yard. It's lower trunk branching is dreamy. Pictures do not do this gem justice. With the one long branch reaching out, it's the perfect spot to climb up and lean back, gazing into it's intricate display above.

And the moss... Oh I do love the ground around this apple tree. Portions of it's root system poking through the surface with patches of Moss interspersed amongst it's feet.

Now if there were just one apple tree in the South side yard I could only keep, it would be that one. Why say such a thing? Because they are under attack! Well, not this gem but an apple tree closest to our house on the south side is smothering in Oyster scale! At first I thought the tree had a disease but with further research & a helpful forum post, I found our culprit. Despite looking like an apple tree disease, it is an invasive insect.

Oyster scale is not a disease on apple trees but an infestation of an insect exoskeleton of the female insect. The shell is protecting the eggs she has laid on the tree, which will hatch in spring of larvae.

This is just a 6 inch area of a very close snap shot. Compared to a tiny grain of rice, imagine the 8 ft of trunk from ground to first branch COVERED in these.

If the Oyster scale can not be eradicated with the organic oil methods then I must discuss with Mr. & Mrs. J the possibility of cutting her down to prevent this from spreading.

 For now the ground is covered with a thick layer of bright snow. The only wondering about I will enjoy is to the woodpile and back for some cozy by the fire reading.

OH! I am most excited for my next trip out to White Willow's home. We have decided to learn some West Coast Swing dancing. Of course we could never afford lessons in a studio, so I found a few DVD's at the local library we plan to try out. Although I do not foresee us hopping the dance floor in public anytime soon, it is surely to be a blast learning the basics. Who knows, maybe I can talk Her & Dirk the Dude into some swing music for the outdoor nuptials reception.That gives us 1 1/2 yrs to look like we actually know what we were doing. After all, it would go perfect with the Vintage Nature theme we are coordinating.

I have something special on it's way from a small Nursery in Lincolnshire England. So keep watch for a special posting on my anticipated package.