She Scribes

Creating GORGEOUS Cake Hs Never Been Easier (Cake Vase Giveaway!)

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 18:23:00 PST

I will be the first person to tell you that I can't bake to save my life. My intentions are good. Luck is just never on my side. Thankfully my husband can bake fairly well.

As it is with baking cakes, decorating cakes just never goes my way. I'll cite a few examples to prove my point.

Many years ago I made a Christmas cake for a party my friends and I were planning. I decorated sugar ice cream cones to look like Christmas trees and painstakingly decorated little Teddy Gram cookies to look like elves. I even made a frozen pond out of foil (the elves needed something to ice skate on). It literally took me the entire day just to decorate this sheet cake.

I safely got the cake to my friend's house where the party was going to be. As my bad luck would have it the florescent light bulb above the sink fell and broke and pieces of shattered glass went everywhere, including all over my cake! There was no way we could risk eating the cake so we had to toss it out.

Fast forward years later. I was decorating a cake for my son's birthday. It was suppose to resemble a construction site. I even purchased new construction vehicles to top the cake with. Sadly when I was removing the cake from the pan a HUGE piece stuck, leaving a massive hole in the middle of the cake. There wasn't time to make another cake so I improvised and pretended the hole was part of the construction site. I crushed up some Oreos and put the crumbs in the hole and some in the dump truck to make it look like dirt. It ended up looking "OK", but I was so disappointed that there was a huge hole in the cake.

Decorating cakes is not my forte. My sister on the other hand is a fantastic cake decorator. I'm always impressed with her skills and she never had any formal training either. Just once I would love to decorate a cake just as impressive as my sister's cakes.

There is a super easy way to decorate any cake and it will have people thinking you are the ultimate cake decorating pro. It's called Cake Vase (http://www.cakevase.com/). It's the most amazing idea!

Cake Vase is a plastic "disc" which has holes on one side and "spikes" (for lack of a better description) on the other side. To use the Cake Vase all you need to do it bake a bake (or purchase a cake) and frost it (you can purchase a pre-frosted cake too). Then you insert the spiked end of the Cake Vase into the cake so that it's resting on top. Then you can take real flowers, fake flowers or greenery and insert them into the "holes" on the Cake Vase topper. Your cake will look amazing!

I just had to try the Cake Vase for myself. I purchased a pre-made cake from the grocery store down the street. I also picked up a small bundle of mixed flowers from the florist in the grocery store too. When I got home I just took the various Cake Vases I have (they come in different sizes) and found the one that best fit the top of the cake. I was a bit worried I would smash it down too much but it inserted into the cake really easy.

You can fill the wells in the Cake Vase with water to keep the flowers lasting longer. I have bad luck when it comes to cakes so I omitted the water. Besides we were going to eat the cake that night anyway so it was fine.

Next I cut the stems on the flowers to fit into the well and tried to arrange them nicely around the cake with the Cake Vase. It didn't exactly turn out as nice as some photos I have seen, but it was certainly much nicer then any cake I could have decorated. It was so easy too!

I did take a few pictures of the finished product. I just have to hunt them down. I have a feeling my daughter deleted them, but she's not admitting to it. Either that or she uploaded them onto her computer when she uploaded pictures from a sleep over she went to. As soon as I can find my pictures I will update this post.

I'm seriously very impressed with the Cake Vase. It's so simple to use. Even my four year old neighbor could do it (although I wouldn't recommend that...ha ha). You can even use pillar candles in place of some of the flowers. I don't have any on hand so I wasn't able to try that out for myself.

For Christmas this year I want to get a cake frosted with white frosting. I want to ask the bakery if they could give it a "basket weave" design. Then I want to use some greenery and some red flowers (maybe Carnations) and decorate a cake to look very festive for Christmas. I would love to use some Evergreens. I think that would look stunning!

Here are some examples of cakes decorated with the Cake Vase. I love the one that uses candy canes/candy sticks around the cake. What a fun and tasty idea!

How gorgeous are these cakes! With Cake Vase anyone - including someone like me - can make the most impressive and amazing cakes.

I'd like to try and make one for Thanksgiving too. If I do I'll take pictures and post them on She Scribes.

To learn more about Cake Vase you can visit http://www.cakevase.com/. Cake Vases come in various sizes to fit most round and sheet cakes.

Cake Vase is available at many online retailers including Amazon, Gooseberry Patch, ChefTools.com and other locations. There is a complete list on the Cake Vase web site.

Kathleen from Cake Vase would love to give TWO lucky She Scribes readers their own set of Cake Vases. Thanks Kathleen!

To enter please visit the Cake Vase web site at http://www.cakevase.com/. Look around and then come back here and comment on your favorite cake design shown on the site (either from the Idea Photos or the First Tries Gallery). Please give me the SPECIFIC name of the image (found under the image).

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done.

- Blog about this review/giveaway and please link back to both this post and Cake Vase (http://www.cakevase.com/). Please provide the URL of the post.

- Become a fan of Cake Vase on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

- Follow Cake Vase on Twitter (CLICK HERE).

- Tweet about this on Twitter. Be sure to include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Both options found on the right side bar (about 1/2 way down).

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you have done and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway will end on November 15, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST) and is open to US & Canadian residents.

The winners will be chosen at random using a random number generator from all eligible entries. The winners will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with their name and mailing address (no PO Boxes) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out the other great giveaways currently available on the right side bar under "Win It".

*I received a set of Cake Vases free to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Memorable Entertaining Membership Giveaway!

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:58:00 PST

Are you planning to host Thanksgiving at your home this year? Are you having family and friends over on Christmas Eve or Christmas day? Are the Hanukkah celebrations happening at your home this year? If you can answer "yes" to any of these questions then you'll certainly want to check out Memorable Entertaining (www.memorableentertaining.com).

Memorable Entertaining is your "one stop shop" for everything and anything relating to entertaining, and not just for the holidays either. This is an excellent resource to assist you with any entertaining whether it's for the holidays, a birthday or even just a tea party for your friends.

Memorable Entertaining launched April 12, 2008, after more than 12 months of planning and building (plus decades of culinary and decorating experience). The site is rich in content and graphic ideas, providing all the tools in one convenient place for hosting gracious and memorable events.

Memorable Entertaining is a subscription based service, however there is a lot of content available to non-members for free.

I have been checking out the site and even though I can't really entertain where I live I did find a lot of great information I can apply to my own life. In fact it makes me want to entertain every MORE because entertaining can be fun and easy and it doesn't have to be a stressful chore.

I LOVE the section under the Food category called Time Savers. This is a huge list of quick tips and amazing resources to help you save time making appetizers, main dishes, desserts and even beverages. Many of the tips even reference products you can pick up at your local Trader Joes, Costco or other popular stores. There are also links to many online resources where you can purchased the supplies to you need to help you save time preparing for your party. The list even tells you where to find specific products and quick and easy recipes to whip up a meal your guests will be raving about for weeks to come. Even though I'm not entertaining in my home I know I'll be having dinner at my Father's house around Christmas. I'm going to make the meatballs listed in this section made with Oregon Trail Sauce and Pepper and Onion Relish. It sounds SO GOOD!

Memorable Entertaining offers great tips on how to properly greet your guests and make them feel right at home. There are also ideas on how to help guests "break the ice" with other guests.

I love the extensive music section that gives you music suggestions for every entertaining scenario possible, from brunch to the holidays and from a romantic dinner for two to International themed parties (Cuban, French, Greek and more!).

Are you throwing a bridal shower for a friend or relative? Memorable Entertaining has everything you need to throw the most amazing party ever, including games, favors, centerpieces and more.

Even children's parties are covered. Memorable Entertaining has everything you need to throw and amazing children's party.

I thought it was fun to see that people still entertain with cigars. Although I don't condone smoking there is just something very interesting about that.

EVERYTHING you can possibly think of is found on the site. Even tips on how to keep the party flowing from room to room without skipping a beat.

Memorable Entertaining offers more then just tips and lists. There are interesting "How to" videos available as well. I LOVE the videos on how to fold napkins. I have always wondered how to fold napkins to give them all those fun and unique designs.

Another video I really enjoyed was the one on how to make centerpieces. Who knew fruit would make such an elegant centerpiece.

I am not exaggerating when I say that everything and anything you want to know about entertaining in your home, whether it's an intimate dinner for two or a huge family gathering. Memorable Entertaining has it all.

To learn more about Memorable Entertaining please visit www.MemoribleEntertaining.com. You can sign up for their FREE newsletter by CLICKING HERE.

From now until December 25, 2009 you can get $10 off a membership (even gift memberships) using the discount code 50286348. You can also WIN one of FIVE membships I am giving away to five lucky She Scribes readers. Thanks Memorable Entertaining!

To enter please visit the Memorable Entertaining web site at www.MemoribleEntertaining.com.
Look around and come back here and comment on which TWO sections you are most interested in. Trust me, there is such a wealth of information to be found here I bet you can't think of just two.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each you have done.

- Blog about this review/giveaway and please link back to BOTH this post and Memorable Entertaining.com. Please provide the URL of the post.

- Become a fan of Memorable Entertaining on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

- Tweet about this on Twitter and please be sure to include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too.

- Follow Memorable Entertaining Twitter (CLICK HERE).

- Subscribe and/or Follower She Scribes. Both options are found on the right side bar (about 1/2 way down).

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati). Just be sure to tell me what you did and if possible include a URL or name.

This giveaway will end on November 15, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). EVERYONE is eligible to enter (even International).

The winners will be chosen at random from all eligible entries using a random number generator. The winners will be contacted by e-mail. No mailing address is required, only a valid e-mail. Winners have three days to reply or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out the other great giveaways currently available on the right side bar under "Win It".

*I received a free membership to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinons expressed are my own.

Holiday Entertaining Tips

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:32:00 PST

Here is a great article by Debra Delaney, owner of Memorable Entertaining (www.MemorableEntertaining.com).

Holiday Entertaining Tips

by Debra Delaney

I know for me, I always look forward to the impending holidays with equal parts of joy and dread. Excitement about spending time with friends and family, the pleasure of seeing that special smile on someone’s face when you’ve chosen just the right gift, the unique energy and bustle in the air that only comes with the holiday season.

Then I look at my already ‘filled to over flowing’ schedule and wonder – “How will I find time to prepare for the holidays?”

MemorableEntertaining.com created with you in mind, for just these types of situations!

Here are some quick and easy tips to help make your holiday entertaining stress free, whatever your budget or experience as a host or hostess.

- The holidays are a busy time. Send invitations out 4 to 6 weeks in advance.

- Select a combination of make-ahead appetizers that can be frozen or made one to two days in advance.

- Opt for one-meal dishes, such as stews, pot roasts, pastas. This eliminates the need for multiple side dishes. One-meal dishes have an added plus because most can be made a day in advance and taste better!

- Pair your one-meal dish with a stand out salad, which acts as your vegetable.

- Bake holiday goodies that will last the season, such as peanut brittle, fudge, toffee, ginger snaps and biscotti. Most cookies or cookie dough can be stored in the freezer up to 6-months.

- Out of town guests: Set up a ‘breakfast bar’ before you go to bed. Include mugs, plates, bowls, napkins, sugar, tea bags, hot chocolate packets, jellies, cereals and packets of instant cereal. All you have to do in the morning is turn on the coffee pot and put out a selection of breads, such as muffins, bagels, English muffins, etc. and pitchers of milk and juice. Let your guests serve themselves.

- Create holiday centerpieces with versatility in mind. Opt for centerpieces that can remain on your dining room and kitchen tables throughout the holiday entertaining season and complement both formal and informal table settings.

- Use fruits, vegetables, nuts, pine cones, feathers or different sized glass cylinders filled with holiday ornaments.

- Preserve holiday greenery: soak overnight, re-cut stems, use a mixture of one-part glycerin, one-part water to keep greens pliable, avoid direct sunlight, place away from heat ducts and mist lightly with water. Spray greens with an anti-transpirant to seal in moisture. Select greens such as Western Cedar and Fir, which hold up better over time.

Wishing you the magic of the season!

For more entertaining ideas, tips and resources please visit MemorableEntertaining.com

*I was no compensated for this post. I posted this for the benefit and entertainment of my readers.

Tablescape Ideas for the Holidays

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:23:00 PST

I really wish that I could entertain in my home. Our home is just way too small, even for just my family.

I have always dreamed of having a fancy holiday dinner party at my home, complete with candles, fine china, fancy stemware and holiday music. Some day I hope and pray that my dream will come true.

Debra Kavalos Delaney, owner of Memorable Entertaining (www.MemorableEntertaining.com) appeared on ABC News with some fabulous ideas for decorating your table year round. I love the idea of using a piece of wood as a centerpiece. I also think that adding place cards if a fun touch to any dinner party. I can come up with several ideas that would make great place settings.

Check out this video of Debra's appearance (above) and see some of her great ideas for year round indoor entertaining.

A commercial might appear in the begining before the video starts but it just lasts for a few seconds.

Those of you who subscribe or read on RSS will have to come to the site to see the video. It's worth checking out.

*I was not compensated for this post. I am posting this for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Something you don't see often...

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:08:00 PST

...a tender moment between a 'tween and her Dad.

My family was watching TV tonight (Family Movie Night - double feature!) and our 'tween daughter and my husband fell asleep watching the movie, along with our dog Epsn (pronounced "Es-pin").

Knowing how "uncool" it is to hang out with parents when you are a 'tween, moments like these are few and far between.

Our son and I finished watching the first movie. At least these sleepy heads were awake enough to watch the second feature tonight, "Up". I guess they found the first movie boring? Ha Ha.

Hickory Farms Party Planner Gift Basket Giveaway

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 20:38:00 PST

I am very fortunate that I was able to get to know my great-grandparents when I was growing up. I was raised by my grandparents and lived right next door to three of my great-grandparents. My "mom" (grandmother) had her mom and dad next door and they had my "dad's" (grandfather) mother living in their apartment in the same house. Confusing huh? LOL.

Around the holidays there was one thing that my great-grandfather just had to have and that is those Meltaway Mints from Hickory Farms. Maybe some of you know what I am referring to. They are small "kiss" shaped pastel mints with little nonpareils sprinkled on top.

My great-grandfather LOVED them. I can see why. They are very sweet and minty. I enjoyed having some when I was with my great-grandparents too. In my eyes Meltaway Mints are a family tradition.

I would buy my great-grandfather the Meltaway Mints from those little holiday kiosks that popped up in the mall around the holidays. It was a "no-brainer" when it came to shopping for my great-grandfather. As long as there was a Hickory Farms around I was all set with his gift.

I used to love to browse their selection of goodies. They always put together a great assortment of tasty goodies into lovely gift baskets and tins. I love their snack towers that come with crackers, cheeses, candy, cookies, pretzels and mustard (just to name a few). I love that they offer a selection of products in one basket so that you get a little bit of everything, from meats to sweet treats and from spreads to jams and so much more.

I really enjoy Hickory Farms for the convenience. Whether it's a holiday kiosk or the Hickory Farms web site (www.HickoryFarms.com), it's the place to go for "one stop shopping". For example, I can get my brother in law the Family Celebrations Coffee Blend (he loves coffee). And I can get my cousin who recently got married the cute Mickey's Storybook Christmas Gift Set because she can use the plate to put out cookies for Santa and read the book to their son. I can also get the Colossal Cashew Gift Tin for my Dad (Grandfather) and pick up a Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake to bring to my Father's house on Christmas Eve.

Did you know that Hickory Farms also ships to the Military? I am sure there are men and women stationed around the globe who would truly appreciate a box full of delicious goodies from Hickory Farms for the holidays. Hickory Farms offers FREE shipping to APO/AFO mailing addresses.

Hickory Farms is once again partnering with Share Our Strength (www.Strength.org) to help raise money to help feed hungry children. Did you know that just $1.00 can provide THREE meals for a child who might otherwise go without?

When you place an order online at Hickory Farms you will be asked at check out if you would like to donate $1.00 to Share Our Strength. If you purchase the Hickory Farms Party Planner Gift Set from November 27, 2009 - December 10, 2009 they will donate $5.00 to Share our Strength. This special Party Planner Gift Set ($40) includes:

- 7 oz. Beef Summer Sausage
- 5 oz. Ham Summer Sausage
- 5 oz. Turkey Summer Sausage
- 6 oz. Cheddar Cheese Ball
- 4 oz. Cheddar & Havarti Blend
- 4 oz. Mission Jack Blend
- 4 oz. Creamy Swiss Blend
- 4 oz. Big Barn Cheddar®
- 2 oz. Jalapeño & Cheddar Spread
- 2 oz. Italian Herb & Cheese Spread
- 2.5 oz. Cranberry Mustard
- 2.25 oz. Sweet Hot Mustard

That is almost 3 pounds of delicious treats. Not only would this make a great gift but it will also help feed a child in need.

To learn more about Hickory Farms partnership with Share Our Strength please visit http://www.hickoryfarms.com/shareourstrength.asp.

The wonderful people at Hickory Farms would like to give one lucky She Scribes reader the Party Planner Gift Set. Thanks Hickory Farms!

To enter please visit the Hickory Farms web site at www.HickoryFarms.com. Look around and then come back here and comment on another product they offer (NOT mentioned here) that you would love to have. Make sure you eat before viewing the web site because it's going to make you hungry. LOL!

For additional entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Both options are found about 1/2 way down on the right side bar. I "heart" my subscribers and followers.

- Blog about this giveaway and please link back to BOTH this post and Hickory Farms (www.HickoryFarms.com). If you could mention their commitment to Share Our Strength that would be great too.

- Tweet about this one Twitter. Be sure to include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too.

- Promote this giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you did and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 15, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries using a random number generator. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with an name and mailing address (no PO Boxes) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out the other great giveaways current available on the right side bar under "Win It".

*I was not compensated in any way for this post. I posted this for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: Wubbzy's Christmas Adventure (Giveaway!)

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 18:22:00 PST

One thing I really enjoy about the holidays is all the wonderful holiday shows and specials that air on TV. From Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer to Frosty and from Elf (Will Ferral) to National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, we watch them all. We have a nice collection of holiday movies and specials on DVD and VHS (yes, we still have VHS tapes) that we pull out year after year and enjoy them as much as the first time we watched them.

I love that more and more popular TV shows are coming up with their own holiday episodes. Even popular characters with the little kids now have their own holiday episodes.

Wow! Wow! Wubbzy, which is a popular TV series on Nick Jr. recently released a new DVD called Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!: Wubbzy's Christmas Adventure.

When I was asked if I'd like to review the DVD of course I said "yes". I love holiday programming.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that this was a full length DVD. I was thinking it was only going to be one holiday episode and the DVD would run about 30 minutes. Instead I learned that the DVD has several episodes and lasts for 70 minutes. Wow! Even better there are several holiday related episodes, not just one.

The DVD starts off with an episode where it snows in Wuzzleburg. Wubbzy wants to take advantage of the snow and go sleigh riding. Walden opts to build a snow creature and Widget creates a very interesting snow plow.

Wubbzy was being careless and not looking where he was going and accidentally crashed into Widget's snow creature. Together with Widget they try to repair the snow creature and make it good as new before Walden finds out.

Next up is another holiday related episode.

In this episode Wubbzy accidentally blows out the lights on the Figgity-Fig Tree. Poor Wubbzy thinks he ruined Christmas because without the lights on the Figgity-Fig Tree the residents of Wuzzleburg will be unhappy and disappointed in Wubbzy. Musch to Wubbzy's surprise just the opposite happened. The entire town came together to help decorate the Figgity-Fig Tree and make it the most memorable holiday ever for the people of Wuzzleburg and most especially Wubbzy.

There are actually a few holiday related episodes on the TV. I thought there would be one holiday one and the rest of the DVD would be regular episodes. I was happy to find out that the entire DVD has holiday related episodes (or winter related) except one called "Dash for Dolly".

Even though the episode was about Widget's birthday the lesson of the story holds true for the holidays, and year round, too. Gifts that come from the heart mean the most.

In between the episodes were cute little music videos. I love that even the background music was holiday related. This truly is a holiday DVD for young children.

I love the messages behind the music videos too. They really show you what the holidays are all about. They are not about what you get but rather what you can do for others and give to others.

This is a super cute DVD filled with adorable characters and sweet songs.

Wow! WOW! Wubbzy!: Wubbzy's Christmas Adventure is available now where ever DVD's are sold.

Check out this cute trailer for the DVD. Subscribers and those reading on RSS will have to visit my site to check out the video trailer. It's really cute.

To learn more about Wow! Wow! Wubbzy visit the official web site at http://www.wubbzy.com/.

I have THREE copies of this DVD that I can give away to THREE lucky She Scribes readers (one copy each). This will be the perfect addition to your holiday collection.

To enter please visit the Wubbzy web site (http://www.wubbzy.com/), look around and come back here and comment on something on the site that you really enjoyed. My favorite is the Sketchity Sketch Pad. Also, please comment on a favorite show or movie you enjoy watching during the holidays. That part is not mandatory. I'm just curious.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be fore to leave a separate comment for each you have done.

- Blog about this review/giveaway and please link back to this post. Please provide the URL of the post.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Both options are found on the right side bar (about 1/2 way down).

- Tweet about this on Twitter and please be sure to include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too.

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you did and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 14, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winners will be chosen using a random number generator from all ELIGIBLE entries ("enter me" and "I want to win" are not eligible). The winners will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with their mailing address (No PO Boxes) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out the other great giveaways currently available on the right side bar under "Win It".

*I received a screener copy of this movie to do the review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

FREE Holiday Craft (Clay Pot Village) at Michaels

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:30:00 PST

If you have a Michaels craft store new you mark your calendar for November 7, 2009 from 1-3 PM. Michael's will host a FREE in-store workshop how how to make the adorable clay pot village pictured above.

Michaels will be hosting a lot of FUN and FREE crafting events all month long to get you in the holiday spirit. To learn more visit this link,
http://www.michaels.com/art/online/static?page=holiday-events.

There you will find the holiday calendar of events and crafting projects for November and December. They have A LOT of super adorable crafts planned. Some would make great gifts others are wonderful decorations for your home.

To learn more about Michaels or to find a store near you vist www.Michaels.com.

*I was not compensated for this post in any way. I posted it for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Give the Gift of Safey & Peace of Mind This Holiday Season

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:01:00 PST

I will be the first one to admit that I am an overly paranoid parent. We have children in our complex that are considered "Latch Key Kids" (kids that go home to an empty home) as young as 6 years old! That is just SO WRONG on so many levels. Even my own nieces are Latch Key Kids. What irks me is that their mother was laid off for a few months and her daughter still walked to and from the bus by herself. True, she's 11 years old now, but none the less her mother was home and her daughter walks BEHIND buildings where she can easily be abducted.

My kids are in middle school now (5th and 7th) and I still get them on and off the bus. I stand outside and watch them when they are walking the dog. They are never out of my site except when they are with friends or at school. My greatest fear is something happening to either of them.

This time a year can be pretty scary for parents. With all the hustle and bustle and huge crowds at the stores and in the mall it's very easy for a young child to get lost. Even the most paranoid parent (like myself) can turn your back for just a split second and find your child missing. Most of the time the child is just a few feet away.

When an older child gets lost they usually know to go up to a security gaurd, Police Officer or store employee and let the know they are lost. Older children know their name, addressa and phone number too which makes it easier for them to be reunited with their family. But what about the younger children who might not talk yet or are too young to know important information?

My Precious Kid is your #1 source for child safety products. I know Kay personally. We have been friends for many years. I have used her products with my own children so I can vouche for their quality and effectiveness.

My Precious Kid offers products such as Child Locators, Inside Shoe Stickers, ID Bracelets, Personal Alarms, Seat Belt Covers, First Aid Kits, DNA Dental Impression Kits and much, much more.

One of the products My Precious Kids offers are Kids Dog Tags. I am using these tags with my children right now. My kids are old enough to remember their home number but often forget important numbers like my husband's office number or our cell phone numbers. I have the Kids Dog Tags for both my kids. It's engraved with their names, our home number, my cell number and my husband's work number. They are attached inside their backpack. This also serves as an ID in case (heaven forbid!) my child goes missing and the backpack is found.

My kids actually think they are cool. They look like real military dog tags. They also come in different colors. My daughter has pink and my son has blue. I like the purple one. You can even have them engraved with fun designs like a cat, flower, car or child. Each Kids Dog Tag also comes with a rubber piece that wraps around it so there are no worries about sharp sides or listening to it clank against keys or zippers.

The Kids Dog Tags would be great for your child to wear on their belt loop when they are going on a field trip. You can even use them on luggage if you are traveling this holiday season.

You can personalize the tags for your child if they have allergies or special medical requirements too. They can be used for a variety of situations. And because they are so "trendy" most kids enjoy wearing them. Trust me, if my fashion diva daughter is OK wearing this then I'm sure it's fine (LOL). My son wants to wear it as a necklace but I told him he has to keep it on his backpack.

I forgot to mention that each Kids Dog Tag comes with a hoop you can use to attach it to things. The hoop is a screw closure so you don't have to worry about it accidently coming off.

To learn more about the Kids Dog Tags you can visit www.MyPreciousKid.com. Scroll down a little on the products page, or you can use the search option found at the top left side of the home page. While you are there you should check out all the other great safety products available.

This year gift the gift of safey and peace mind not only for yourself but also for a friend or relative. Safety products make thoughtful gifts.

My Precious Kid would like to give one lucky She Scribes reader a Child Safety Pack which includes...

1 - Child ID Card

1 - Child Car Seat ID Card

1 - Medical Release Card

1 - Child Luggage Tag ID Card

2 - Shoe ID Stickers (these are my personal favorites!)

1 - Disposable Child ID bracelet

1 - Child DNA Fingerprint Kit

Optional Waterproof pen is available

CPSC CPSIA Compliant

Child ID Kit Made by My Precious Kid

To enter please visit My Precious Kid at www.MyPreciousKid.com. Look around and then come back here and comment on ANOTHER safety product (not mentioned here) that you would love to have.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Options are found about 1/2 way down on the right side bar.

- Blog about this review/giveaway and link back to this post and My Precious Kid (www.MyPreciousKid.com). Please provide the URL of the post.

- Follow My Precious Kid on Twitter (www.Twitter.com/MyPreciousKid).

- Tweet about this on Twitter. Please include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I may see it too.

- Become a fan of My Precious Kid on Facebook by CLICKING HERE.

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you've done and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 13, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries using a random number generator. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name and mailing address (no PO Boxes) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out all the other amazing giveaways currently available on the right side bar under "Win It".

*We received a set of Kids Dog Tags free to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinoins expressed are my own.

Popcorn Factory Giveaway and MORE!

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:15:00 PST

I LOVE popcorn! I must have popcorn at least once a week if not more. Sometimes I whip some up to nosh on while watching a good movie. Other times I make a little for my kids to take to school with them and I save the rest to have at lunch time with a sandwich. My favorite is good old plain buttered popcorn but I do enjoy cheddar, caramel, chocolate and other varieties as well.

Did you hear that the Popcorn Factory has a huge giveaway going on right now? The grand prize is 30 gifts you can share with your friends and family which values at $6,000! That means that each gift will be worth about $200.00. WOW! Imagine how excited your friends and family would be receiving $200 worth of gifts from the Popcorn Factory - EACH!

Second prize for 30 lucky winners is a 2 gallon tin of popcorn in their Peace, Love & Popcorn design as well as a fun t-shirt.

30 lucky third prize winners will also get the Peace, Love & Popcorn t-shirt.

To enter all you need to do is submit your name and e-mail address. You can't get any easier then that.

CLICK HERE to enter the 30 Gift Giveaway from the Popcorn Factory. But hurry! The sweepstakes ends on November 23, 2009.

Popcorn actually is a fun holiday gift you can give to someone. I'm sure a co-worker, the delivery man, your next door neighbor or even your spouse would appreciate a gift of popcorn this holiday season.

Every year my family picks up a tin of popcorn. We usually find them at the grocery store for around $5.00 (sometimes more). They are good. They sometimes get stale quickly but usually the popcorn doesn't last for more then a week anyway.

Recently the Popcorn Factory sent my family a two gallon tin of popcorn in Butter, Cheddar and Caramel flavor. OH MY GOODNESS! The popcorn we get at the end of the check out aisle at the grocery store can't even begin to compare to the popcorn from the Popcorn Factory.

The interesting thing is that my husband had no idea that the Popcorn Factory was sending popcorn for us to review. He assumed I picked it up from the grocery store. Of course he just HAD to open it up and have something moment he got home from work. Do you know what the first thing he said to me was? He said "It tastes really fresh", almost as if he was questioning the freshness. I told him that it was popcorn from the Popcorn Factory and not from the grocery store. Then he said "Well that is probably why it tastes better".

I agree with my husband. The popcorn from the Popcorn Factory does taste very fresh. They must pop it just before they send it to you. The tin was packed too! Sometimes when you buy those "cheap" popcorn tins they are only about 3/4th filled. The tin from the Popcorn Factory was filled right to the top. I also appreciate that the popcorn was big and fluffy. There is nothing worst then a bunch of popcorn "crumbs".

What I really enjoy about the Popcorn Factory is that they offer tins, boxes and towers of popcorn and other goodies for all occasions. They even offer personalized tins that you can have personalized with your family photo, child's photo or even the family pet.

I love their "Samplers" which include popcorn, cookies, candy and more. They look so good! They would make an idea gift for just about anyone.

Popcorn is also a great party snack to offer your guests at holiday parties.

Why not give your holiday guests who are staying at your home a great "welcome" gift package of Popcorn Factory goodies. I'm sure they will love to find a tin filled with fresh popcorn waiting for them upon arrival.

The tin designs offered at the Popcorn Factory as so nice too. There is nothing "cheesy" (ha ha) about the designs. We received the gorgeous Falling Leaves popcorn tin.

Check out this really fun popcorn ball decorating kit. This would be a lot of fun for kids to do over the holiday season.

To learn more about the Popcorn Factory please visit www.PopcornFactory.com. Don't forget to enter the sweepstakes while you are there for your chance to win 30 prizes!

How would you like to win a 2 gallon tin of Popcorn Factory popcorn (butter, cheddar and caramel)?

To enter please visit the Popcorn Factory (www.PopcornFactory.com). Look around and then come back here and comment on something from the Popcorn Factory that you would love to have (please be SPECIFIC with the item name). Also please let me know if you entered the sweepstakes.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each that you have done.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Both options are found on the right side bar (about 1/2 way down).

- Blog about this review/giveaway and please link back to both this post and the Popcorn Factory (www.PopcornFactory.com). Please provide the URL of the post.

- Tweet about this on Twitter and please include @She_Scribes in with the tweet so I can see it too.

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you did and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 12, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries using a random number generator. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with a name and mailing address (No PO Boxes) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out all the fantastic giveaways currently available by looking on the right side bar under "Win It".

*We received a 2-gallon tin free to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Babynut - Natural & Organic Products (Giveaway too!)

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:36:00 PST

Natural and organic products are all the rage these days. Whether it is the foods that you eat or the clothes that you wear, going with natural and organic is the way to go. Personally I enjoy products that are natural and organic. I have been making an effort to buy better quality products for my family. Not only because I want to keep them healthy but also because I want to keep our green Earth healthy too.

I especially like organic cotton and clothing made out of bamboo. I really like how they feel against my skin. I'm still in awe of the fact you can turn bamboo into an amazingly soft piece of clothing.

Babynut (www.Babynut.com) offers a unique assortment of natural, organic, and alternative products to support pregnancy, adoption, childbirth, parenting, babies, and toddlers.

One thing that especially stands out are the wellness products. Babynut offers Homeopathic remedies for babies. I really like that. If there was one thing I really did not like when my children were babies was giving them a lot of over the counter products with things in the ingredients I could not pronounce. When my daughter was born there really wasn't much available that was all natural and Homeopathic. I noticed a few products when my son was an infant. These days I'm happy to see that there are more and more Homeopathic products available. Babynut has such products for teething, to calm a baby, cold remedy, earache remedy and a few others. Babynut even has a nice selection of Homeopathic products for both mom and baby.

I am totally in love with the Melissa & Doug Picnic Basket Fill & Spill Set found in the toys section of Babynut. How adorable is this set!

If you are looking for a great gift to give a mom-to-be at a baby shower check out this amazing gift basket filled with an assortment of products for the new arrival.

Babynut also has a nice selection of books and music. They carry books on adoption which I think is very nice because I'm sure such book are not as easy to come by.

They also offer such timeless classics as "Goodnight Moon" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Many book titles ship for FREE too!

In honor of Babynut's 6th birthday they are giving away a $75.00 gift certificate which would be GREAT to have for your holiday shopping. If you place an order from now until December 15, 2009 you will be automatically entered into the drawing for the $75.00 gift certificate.

To learn more about Babynut please visit www.Babynut.com. While you are there check out the great newsletter that they offer called Nutsense. You can CLICK HERE to read the archives. There is a lot of interesting information found in the newsletter. You can also check out the Babynut blog at www.babynut.blogspot.com.

Babynut would love to give THREE lucky She Scribes readers one of these adorable bibs (meaning each winner gets one bib, not all three). Green Babies Organic Cotton Fruit and Veggie Bibs. They are made by Green Babies. These sweet bibs are generously cut for extra coverage. The organic jersey front features a variety of screen printed fruits and veggies. The back is super absorbent brushed French terry. It also features an adjustable snaps at neck grows from baby to toddler.

The bibs are machine washable and made out of 100% organic cotton, made and grown in USA.

The bibs come in three adorable styles: Give Peas a Chance, Very Berry and Grape Expectations. Wear your veggies - and fruits!

To enter please visit Babynut at www.Babynut.com. Look around and then come back here and comment on a SPECIFIC product that you also enjoy from the site. Also, please let me know which bib you would like to win. If you don't care which one or don't comment about it at all you'll be entered to win any of the bibs.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done.

- Blog about this giveaway and please link back to BOTH this post and Babynut (www.Babynut.com). Please provide the URL of the post.

- Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter. Please be sure to include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Both options are found on the right side bar (about 1/2 way down).

- Subscribe to the Nutsense newsletter. CLICK HERE for the subscription page.

- Promote this giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you have done and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 13, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winners will be chosen at random from all eligible entries using a random number generator. The winners will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to respond with their name and mailing address (no PO Boxes) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out all the great giveaways currently available on the right side bar under "Win It".

*I was not compensated in any way for this post, nor did I receive products to review. I am posting this for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Win DELICIOUS Beef Bourguignon from the Beverly Hills Kitchen

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:04:00 PST

Take a look at this picture? Doesn't it just make your mouth water! YUMMY! This is a picture of Beef Bourguignon created by chef and legendary party host Alex Hitz. If you watch QVC you might have seen them air a piece on the Beef Bourguignon just recently.

Alex has created the Beverly Hills Kitchen which is a new line of prepared gourmet food you can create easily at home. And when I say easy I mean EASY!

The first meal offered by the Beverly Hills Kitchen is an amazing Beef Bourguignon. Beef Bourguignon is made from super-tender, USDA prime beef. The beef is slow simmered in an aromatic mix of all-natural beef stock, red burgundy wine, carrots, pearl onions, mushrooms, and a host of classical ingredients to create an unforgettable meal. Each fully cooked meal is packed in a boil pouch for super easy heating and eating. Each pouch weighs 8 ounces (enough for one person). QVC and the Beverly Hills Kitchen offers 5 pouches with each order, enough to make five dinners.

Cooking a gourmet meal couldn't be easier. All you need to do is boil water, drop in the pouches, boil for a few minutes until cooked and there you have it - a gourmet meal in minutes!

I have tried the Beef Bourguignon three different ways. I tried it the Beef Bourguignon on top of egg noodles, mashed potatoes and rice. Egg noodles was my favorite. My husband liked it better on mashed potatoes. If you use the boil in a pouch rice you could boil the rice and the Beef Bourguignon together in one pot and have a delicious meal in minutes.

My husband is VERY picky. Sometimes I think he's worst then the kids. He gobbled the Beef Bourguignon right up. He did pick out the mushrooms (he's not a fan of mushrooms) but other then that he loved it.

It takes SO GOOD! I only wish the pouches were bigger. LOL! Actually these are a good portion size for a normal meal (what people should eat - not what they want to eat). One pouch had a few fatty pieces in it but I believe that was just a fluke because the others didn't. These things happen so I didn't let it bother me. I thought it tasted amazing. I loved having the pearl onions in it. Pear onions are one of those things that people don't use that often. I happen to really enjoy them. The sauce was my favorite. It tasted SO GOOD even mixed with the noodles, rice and mashed potatoes. I wish the sauce was available as a "stand alone" too because I would use that to flavor chicken and to top on the side dishes too.

If you are having a few dinner guests over this holiday season and would love to WOW them with a gourmet meal then the Beef Bourguignon from the Beverly Hills Kitchen is the way to go. It's quick and easy to make, tastes amazing and clean up couldn't be any quicker. No more hanging out in the kitchen cooking while your guests are in the next room. With this quick and easy meal option you can spend more time enjoying the company instead of being in the kitchen.

The Beef Bourguignon would be ideal to keep on hand too for those nights you don't feel like cooking or if you get home late. I know how doing marathon holiday shopping sprees can be tiresome. Now you can have a delicious meal in minutes so you can rest up for your next holiday shopping spree. It's so easy even kids can whip up some Beef Bourguignon.

Alex Hitz, owner of the Beverly Hill Kitchen, attended Le Cordon Bleu, Paris and Peter Kumps Cooking School, currently known as the Institute of Culinary Education (ICE). He plans on creating more quick and easy gourmet meals in the near future including Lobster Thermidor, Low Country Shrimp and Grits, Sirloin and Potato Pie and New Orleans Style Bread Pudding. Yummy!

Alex will be seen on QVC again on November 5, 2009 at 7:00 PM (EST). Make sure to mark that date and time on your calendar so you can see just how delicious and easy to make the Beef Bourguignon is.

To learn more about Alex and the Beverly Hills Kitchen you can visit
www.TheBeverlyHillsKitchen.com.

To learn more about Beef Bourguignon and the make a purchase on QVC you can CLICK HERE to visit the page on QVC. There are other reviews on the QVC site as well. Two others complained about the fat I mentioned, but no one else did. I guess it must have been a batch of the Beef Bourguignon that slipped through quality control. As you can see all the other raved about the product.

How would you like to win some Beef Bourguignon for yourself and your family? One lucky She Scribes reader will win the same package you purchase on QVC (Five 8-ounce packages).

To enter please comment on a meal that you wish was this easy to make (boil in a pouch and you are done!)? For me that would be turkey with gravy and stuffing. YUMMY! But what about YOU? What meal do you wish was this easy to make? Who knows, you might even give Alex some ideas for future products to offer.

For additional entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Both options are found 1/2 way down on the right side bar. I "heart" my subscribers!

- Blog about this review/giveaway on your site and please link back to BOTH this post and the Beverly Hill Kitchen web site (www.TheBeverlyHillsKitchen.com). Please provide the URL of the post.

- Tweet about this on Twitter and please include @She_Scribes so I can see it too.

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you did and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 12, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random from all ELIGIBLE entries using a random number generator. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have 3 days to reply with a name and mailing address (no PO Boxes) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out all the other great giveaways currently available on the right side bar under "Win It".

*I received a package of this product to try and taste for myself to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Seagate "Dockstar" - A great gift for a "Techie" & Computer Buff

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:39:00 PST

I will be the first person to tell you that I am "technologically challenged". Thankfully I am married to a computer tech so that he can rescue me when I goof up on something with the computer. Even though I'm not tech savvy it doesn't mean for a moment that I don't appreciate cool techie gadgets.

I live on my computer (sad to say). I have a home business that involves the computer. I'm a blogger. I love to keep in touch with family and friends via e-mails and Facebook. My computer is my connection to the world.

My Father and step-mother live upstate with the rest of my family. I'm always taking pictures of the kids and I keep meaning to burn them on to a disc and bring it with me so they can see the pictures too. I could e-mail the pictures to them but as you know photos can be large files and often it takes forever and a day to e-mail a serious of pictures. Even if you put them into a zip file the files are huge and take a long time to e-mail. Surely there has to be an easier way to share pictures of the kids with their grandparents?

Seagate, which is known for their great computer related products, especially external hard drives, has come up with a great "computer accessory" (for lack of a better description) that makes sharing files quick and easy. So easy that even the grandparents can figure it out! LOL!

Dockstar is a small, portable docking station for an external hard drive (Seagate's portable external hard drives fit into the Dockstar perfectly). It resembles a typical external docking station except the Dockstar is MORE then just a resting spot for your external hard drive. The Dockstar is actually a way to quickly and easily share files with family, friends and co-workers.

Before I go further when I say "sharing files" I DO NOT mean illegally downloaded music, videos or other files. I'm talking about pictures and videos that YOU took that you want to share with family and friends. Or if you uploaded your favorite CD that you purchased on to the Dockstar you would be able to access it at work and listen to it. If you do a lot of work from home you could easily access your files even if you are traveling across the country. That's a "plus" for people who do a lot of travel for business and cannot afford to leave important documentation at home.

Setting up the Dockstar was super easy - even for someone like me who is often "technologically challenged" (ha ha). It's as easy as plugging it in, filling in some basic information online and you are pretty much ready to go!

Dockstar comes with one year of service from a site called Pogoplug (http://www.pogoplug.com/). This is where you, your friends, family or co-workers can access the files you wish to share with them. After the year is up the service costs $30 a year. I'm sure there are other ways to share files for free, but if you are a novice like me and don't want to take chances that your files will get into the wrong hands I think the $30 is a nominal fee for the service. True, it would be great if it came free forever with the purchase of the Dockstar, but for now that is not the case.

To access files you simply to go the Pogoplug site, or you can e-mail people access to specific files. It's so easy to use that the grandparents now can see every picture of the kids that I upload right away and not have to wait weeks (or months) to see them. My daughter also likes to take a lot of pictures. I usually upload them on my computer and give her my flash drive to upload them on to her computer. Now she can access them from the Pogoplug site when I upload them to the external on the Dockstar station.

It's been great for my husband too. He has a few files on the external we use with the Dockstar and he's able to pull them up at work.

I heard from my father and even from my husband that sometimes the files take a while to get when you access them through the Pogoplug site. My husband thinks it has something to do with the file size.

I'm sure that the real tech gurus would have fun with all the features, ports and interesting things you can do with this. For me and my family is a fun way to share photos, videos, access our music anytime we want and other fun uses. We haven't tried it yet but I believe you can even let people load things remotely too. So if my husband has something at work he wants to keep on the Dockstar he should be able to do that from work.

You can also use the Dockstar with the various social networking sites if you so choose and you can even set up an RSS feed for it too. I don't know if I'd go THAT far. The only things I have on the external that sits in the Dockstar are photos and video of my family, some of the music from our CD's (I recently uploaded some holiday music my husband can access from work), our resumes and a few other miscellaneous things. For others the Dockstar could open up a whole new world of sharing a lot of goodies among many people if they choose to do that. It's safe and secure so you don't have to worry about others being able to hack or access your files. I certainly would put any banking information on the Dockstar (just to be on the safe side) but for everything else it's fine for me. Also, people cannot access files that you do not want them to. Please don't think that all files on the Dockstar are for every one's eyes. They are not. YOU pick and choose what files you wish to share and with who. So if you wanted to share pictures of the gifts you purchased for your spouse with your friend you don't have to worry about your husband accessing them by mistake.

If you have family and friends across the miles and would love to share with them (photos, videos...) the Dockstar is a fantastic product to have.

Dockstar would make a great gift this holiday season for someone who loves tech gadgets or the computer, someone who travels a lot and needs instant access to files or even yourself! If you are looking for a gift for your family members why not consider giving each family a Dockstar. That way you can all grant access to family members and share photos, videos, recipes and other thing to keep your family close across the miles.

Dockstar is available at many retail locations. You do need an external hard drive (like the Seagate Free Agent GO) in order to use the Dockstar. It's a good idea to have an external anyway to back up important information.

To learn more you can visit the Seagate web site at www.Seagate.com. To learn more about Dockstar visit http://www.seagate.com/dockstar.

*I received the Dockstar & external free to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Elfing Around - A FUN Holiday Tradition & Giveaway

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:29:00 PST

In my previous post I wrote about holiday traditions. I mostly wrote about my own family's traditions. I never touched upon the traditions that I had with my family when I was a little girl. We had our own traditions as well.

I used to get so excited when my Dad would head up into the attic to retrieve our holiday decorations. You knew Christmas was coming when Daddy dragged down the 5' light up Santa and the 3' light up Frosty. Sadly Frosty has broke many times over the years (his entire head shattered into pieces), but I have done my best to glue him back together. Santa & Frosty now reside with me and can be seen all lit up on my balcony during the Christmas holiday season.

When I was younger my mom gave me and my sister these beautiful little elves. She never told us that there was a story behind the elves. She just gave them to us "just because". I loved my elf very much until it met up with a horrible fate - my dog chewed it to bits! Ugh! So to make up for it (I was pretty heartbroken) my mom bought me a new elf. The new elf was all done up in gold. He's cute and all but I miss my green elf.

It wasn't until years later that I learned that the elves that my mom gave to me and my sister had a "purpose" aside from being a cute decoration. They were SUPPOSE to be Santa's Elves, sent to our home to keep an eye on us to to make sure we were being good. Whatever we did was reported back to Santa to determine if we were "naughty" or "nice". The elves were suppose to move around the home, as if they were alive and moving around our home to keep on spying on us no matter where we were.

I guess my mom didn't know that. But that is OK. I still love my elf just the same.

I always wanted to try the elf thing with my own kids. When they were little I picked up two little elves from the dollar store. I told them they were Santa's elves and they were keeping an eye on them and reporting everything they saw to Santa. Every day (or every other day) I would move the elves around. The kids actually believed that they were really alive. They had fun trying to find where the elves were hiding.

Some how we lost one of the elves. I think it got packed up in a box of decorations we don't use often (I have yet to find it too). That left us with one elf. I know I could have kept up with the story of how the elf reported back to Santa, but then I felt guilty because there was one elf and two kids. Had we started out with just one elf it would have been better. Do you know what I mean?

I still think the idea of telling kids that magical elves come to stay with them over the holidays and report what they see back to Santa.

Elfing Around (http://www.elfingaround.com/) has taken the idea of the magical elf to a whole new level. Elfing Around offers the cutest little boy and girl elves all dressed up in the holiday finest. They even have the biggest, warmest smiles you have ever seen!

The Elves from Elfing Around are not cheap little Dollar Store elves. First of all they are pretty big. I was very impressed with their size. On the web site you can see them sitting next to a typical TV remote control sharing a bowl of popcorn. That should give you an idea of the size. They are made exceptionally well too. These adorable little elves are sure to last for many, many years.

Elfing Around thought of EVERYTHING! When you purchase an elf from them you don't just get an elf - you get an experience!

The elf package comes with a special "official" letter that you can address to your child (or children) to announce the arrival of the magical elf. You can either give each child their own elf or use just one elf for the whole family. There is a boy and girl elf available.

On the morning that your child meets the magical elf you are to set up the elf some where that your child will find it. There are even fun temporary tattoos your elf can leave for your child as a token gift.

Each elf comes with an activity book that gives you, the parent, fun ideas you can do with the elf at night while your child is sleeping so that your child wakes up to a wonderful surprise. There are 12 days worth of activities in the book as well as postcards you can use to add to the fun.

This is a "keepsake" book. It's not some cheap paper thing but rather an actual book that you can use year after year. Even the letters that come with the elves are printed on quality, glossy paper which means they can stand the test of time. You can use the elves with your own child and some day pass them along, along with most of the paperwork and book, to your child to use with your grandchild.

Elfing Around comes with so many fun goodies! From a special paper and envelope your child can create their wish list on and send off to Santa to lots of really fun and special ideas. There are even more fun things on the Elfing Around web site including coloring pages and links to other great sites. There is even a birthday card included that you can give to your child on their birthday, no matter what time of year it is, from their friend the elf.

I adore the elves from Elfing Around. They are super cute, well made and come with so many great goodies. If you are looking to start a special holiday tradition with your family you should pick up an elf (or maybe one per child) from Elfing Around.

For the record my kids saw the elves briefly. My son even slept with it until I snuck in the room to take it away. I'll bring them back out in December. Our elves (we have a boy and a girl) don't have names yet but the kids are thinking of them. My son is leaning towards "Jack" (as in Jack Frost) and my daughter is probably going with "Clarice" (she was Rudolph's girlfriend in Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer).

Honestly I cannot rave enough about Elfing Around. When you purchase an elf you are NOT just buying an ordinary plush doll but rather you are starting a family tradition that will become a very special part of your holidays for now and many years to come. I would love to tell you more but I don't want to giveaway all the surprises.

To learn more about Elfing Around please visit the official web site at www.ElfingAround.com. You can even purchase other activity books for years two and three as well as other fun goodies.

The WONDERFUL people at Elfing Around would love to give one lucky She Scribes reader a chance to win their own holiday elf. Thank you Elfing Around! The winner will get to choose either a boy or girl elf.

To enter please visit the Elfing Around web site (www.ElfingAround.com) and look around. Then come back here and tell me something fun or interesting you learned from the site, or something from the site that really excites you. I wouldn't mind hearing about your fun holiday traditions either (that part is not mandatory...it's just curiosity).

For additional entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Both options are found on the right side bar (about 1/2 way down).

- Blog about this review and giveaway and please link back to this post AND Elfing Around (www.ElfingAround.com). Please provide the URL of the post.

- Tweet about this on Twitter and please be sure to include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too.

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you did and if possible please provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is open to US residents and will end on November 12, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random using a random number generator. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with their name and mailing address (no PO Boxes) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out all the other awesome Happy Holidays Spectacular giveaways by looking on the right side bar under "Win It".

*I received a set of Elves free to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

How to Make Time for Family Traditions this Holiday Season

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:59:00 PST

Does your family have holiday traditions? I suspect that most families do in one way or another.

My family has a few holiday traditions, but I always feel like we need "more". I mean, the ones we have are fine and all. I just think we could use a few more.

Our holiday tradition for Thanksgiving never seems to change. We always watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV. During the parade my husband will flick back and forth between the parade and "March of the Wooden Soldiers" staring Laurel & Hardy (the OLD black and white movie).

Usually around 11 o'clock I'll set up our coffee table with tons of food like fresh veggies and fresh fruits, chips, pretzels, dips, cheese & crackers and more. My family noshes on the goodies while we watch the last hour of the parade. I still get teary-eyed when I see Santa come at the end of the parade.

Of course my kids eat so much around this time that they are never hungry for dinner. LOL!

It's only me, my husband and our kids on Thanksgiving. We don't have anything to do with my husband's family and my family lives upstate. I do miss having A LOT of family around during the holidays. It's rather sad if you ask me.

The day after Thanksgiving we always put up our tree (faux). We'd love a real tree but with four cats and a dog, plus the tree getting direct sunlight, we figured a fake one was best.

It's also a tradition to watch every holiday cartoon and movie that we can, most especially the classics like Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown, A Year Without Santa Claus, Nester, Little Drummer Boy and so on.

We always keep "A Christmas Story" on Christmas Eve through Christmas Night. We MUST watch the first airing and the last airing. But usually we watch as much as we can in between.

Christmas Eve we go out to eat (again, this is because we have no other family around). We try and find a nice restaurant to go to. Then when we are done (weather permitting) we drive around and look at all the holiday decorations and "award" homes with titles like "Most Creative", "Most Tacky", "Most Festive", "Least Festive" and so forth.

Christmas morning we also always put the Yule Log on while the kids open up their presents.

We have a few others, but I still think we need more.

What about YOU? What are YOUR holiday traditions? I would love to hear from you with your traditions. You might inspire me to try something similar with my family.

Here is a great article written by Jennifer Kirkpatrick. She owns THREE great businesses. Each is found in her biography at the end of her article. The links are bolded. You should check them out. She has some great gift ideas on her sites which could help you get some holiday shopping done.

How to Make Time for Family Traditions this Holiday Season

Family traditions. For some that seems like such an old fashioned concept. But in today's hectic world, making the time to slow down and do something special as a family is more important than ever.

Experts agree that family traditions have many benefits for children. They give them sense of empowerment because they know what is going to happen and they're proud when they are given a role in something special. It can also be a great way to give your children a connection to the past or to their family heritage. And most importantly, it shows them how much you value the family and spending time together. Seeing that you place importance on something that involves them sets a good example for them to do the same.

But finding the time to fit family traditions in to an already busy schedule can seem nearly impossible.

As you prepare for the upcoming holidays, here are a few easy ways you can make traditions part of the season:

1. Choose tasks from your "to do" list. Have lots of holiday baking to do? Make it a family affair. Even small children can get involved by measuring the ingredients, stirring and of course taste testing. Older children can follow simple recipes and do an entire batch themselves. It may take a little longer, but the enjoyment of spending time together and the satisfaction they will feel from being able to contribute are well worth the extra time (and the extra mess).

2. Keep it simple. Family traditions do not have to be elaborate. They can be as simple as reading a book together. For smaller children these simple traditions are actually better because they can follow what is going on and can be given a role. If you're reading the book 'Twas the Night Before Christmas let your little one jingle a set of bells when the reindeer can be heard in the story. Older children can create a play around the story and act it out for the family (or mom and dad can act out their own play - that is sure to get lots of laughs!)

3. Don't overdo it. A few well timed and well thought out family traditions are all you really need. Having too makes it feel like a chore instead of a celebration. Choose the ones that best suit your lifestyle so they fit in easily and you don't feel you need to make extra time in your busy schedule for them. If going out and cutting down your own Christmas tree doesn't work for you, then opt for buying a pre-cut tree (or using an artificial one) and making a tradition of trimming it while you sip hot chocolate.

4. Start new traditions. If the family traditions you participated in as a child are not something you enjoy or they don't fit with your family's lifestyle, then start new ones. If your children are old enough, talk to them about what activities they would like to do. Getting them involved in starting the tradition only adds to their sense of pride. And after a few years, they'll wonder how they ever celebrated the holidays without these traditions.

5. Plan ahead and stay organized. By definition, holiday family traditions happen every year so with a little organization you won't need to be rushing around to prepare for them at the last minute. If every year you make gingerbread cookies as a family, start a separate bin with all of the cookie cutters, icing bags and your favorite recipe. Store it with the other holiday items so you're not hunting for the things you need when gingerbread making day comes around.

With the hectic pace of family life these days, it is more important than ever to make time to create special memories as a family. These are the stories your children will tell their children and they will most likely pass on the traditions to the next generation. Those memories will still be there long after they've forgotten what toys Santa brought.
Happy Holidays!
--------------
About the Author:
Jennifer Kirkpatrick is a mom of two and the owner of the online baby gifts store, Pipsqueak Boutique. Her newest venture is creating personalized baby clothes for her line Define*Me Clothing and handmade photo jewelry for Bella Photo Jewelry.

*I was no compensated in any way for this post. I posted it for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Food, Inc - Your holiday meals might never be the same again.

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:13:00 PST

Before you start planning the menu for your holiday meals you might want to want to watch the movie called Food, Inc. TRUST ME... you'll NEVER look at food the same way again. Oh my!

Above is the official trailer for the movie. Please, if you have a moment you should take a couple of minutes to watch it.

When I was asked to review Food, Inc. I was a bit apprehensive at first. Honestly my first thought is that it was going to be a film about how they slaughter animals. I really did NOT want to see that. After that incident a few weeks ago with the truck full of Turkeys heading off to be slaughtered I have seriously been considering NOT having Turkey this Thanksgiving (I was thinking Baked Ziti instead).

I also learned that the movie was from the same company that made the Al Gore movie An Inconvenient Truth. I rented that movie twice and both times I couldn't bring myself to watch it. I had a feeling if I saw the movie I was going to want to pack my bags and head off to some little island in the middle of nowhere.

I cannot tell you have the movie Food, Inc. REALLY changed how I look at food. I'm not just talking meats. I'm talking about EVERYTHING that we eat...fruits, veggies, meat, cereal, ketchup...Knowing what I know now after watching the movie I am going to try and find all the local farms that I can in this area and find out how to do most of my food shopping from them and not the grocery store.

This movie totally blew my mind. The statistics and facts it tells you makes you want to stop eating all together. But as we all know, that is not possible.

Did you know that the food industry has changed MORE in the last 50 years then it has 10,000+ years before that?

There are about 47,000+ products on the shelves in an average grocery store, yet the same four companies own them ALL! They appear to be different companies, but they are not! FOUR companies own it all and just slap different labels on things.

Packages paint a pretty picture of where the food comes from with cows on green pastures and a beautiful red barn in the background. The truth is that the food you eat DOES NOT come from a farm - it comes from a FACTORY!

Most of the foods we eat have been genetically altered. Did you know that even chickens are genetically altered to "mature" faster and bigger then they do NATURALLY? These genetic mutations often have deadly results on the chickens. Their bodies were not designed to grow the way that mad scientists in a laboratory have altered them to.

Did you know that corn is one of the most produced products. Corn is the basis for a lot of other "chemicals". Did you know that diapers, charcoal and batteries are made with by products of corn? Eww!!! That bowl of corn flakes you had for breakfast has similar properties as diapers and batteries!

Did you know that when you eat ONE hamburger you are really eating a hamburger that was made up from "pieces" of 100's of cows. HUNDREDS! All it takes is for one of those hundreds of cows to have E-Coli or some other disease and you just ate it covered with ketchup and a pickle.

All of this "playing God" with the foods we eat are not only killing us (E-Coli, Sominella...) but is also giving people type II Diabetes. 1 in 3 people born after the year 2000 will develop type II Diabetes during their life time. ONE IN THREE PEOPLE! That is just sick!

What it boils down to is a few companies who rule our food sources and who are playing "God" all for the sake of putting more money in their big fat wallets. It doesn't matter to them that they are essentially killing us. All they care about is money.

All hope is not lost. There are still a handful of REAL farms that produce REAL foods and are not at the mercy of these big corporations. These are the farms I know I'm going to seek out.

Food, Inc. was a HUGE eye opener. I know it sounds pretty scary (frankly, it is!) but I think it's something that EVERYONE should watch. If people knew what was going on with the foods that we eat then maybe we could all stand together and demand changes.

If you watch Food, Inc. your holiday meals will be forever changed.

To learn more visit www.FoodIncMovie.com.

Food, Inc the movie is available wherever DVD's and Blu-rays are sold starting November 3, 2009. The book is also available at many book retail locations.

*I received a copy of this movie free to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Let Them Eat CAKE! (Giveaway)

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:43:00 PST

You're guests that is. LOL!

The holidays are coming. Do you realize Thanksgiving is in three weeks! Wasn't it just the 4th of July not too long ago? Sheesh... time goes by TOO quickly if you ask me.

Even though Thanksgiving is weeks away I'm sure many people are already making plans for who is hosting Thanksgiving dinner, whose making the turkey, who is making the sweet potato casserole and so on. Who is bringing dessert? How would YOU like to be the one to "oooh" and "ahhh" everyone at Thanksgiving this year with a melt-in-your-mouth delicious Caramel Apple Cake from Bake Me a Wish?

A few months back I had the delightful (and very tasty) opportunity to review Bake Me a Wish's chocolate heaven on Earth, their Triple Chocolate Enrobed Brownie Cake. Oh! It was dreamy! If you CLICK HERE you can see that original review.

When I was thinking of great ideas for the Happy Holidays Spectacular one of the first things that came to mind was Bake Me a Wish. I knew their amazing treats would be the ideal ending to a wonderful holiday meal. I was thrilled when I found out that they wanted to be a part of the Happy Holidays Spectacular too.

Bake Me a Wish sent me a Caramel Apple Cake to do a review on. OH MY WORD! To give you an idea of just how wonderful this is my family never gave me the opportunity to take a picture of it like I was able to do (barely) with the Triple Chocolate Enrobed Brownie Cake. As I was opening the box they were all getting out plates, forks and a knife. LOL! So I figured "OK, let them have some cake and I'll take a picture of what is left". Ha Ha. Silly me...there was nothing left!

The cake is amazing. I reminds you of a coffee cake (that is what my husband said) but it smells like an apple pie (that is what my kids said). It's definitely more so a cake then a pie. It's like what you'd get if you crossed an apple pie with a coffee cake, for lack of a better description.

My kids were disappointed that I didn't give them huge slices. This is not the kind of cake that warrants big pieces. This is a gourmet cake. Just a small slice with a cup of tea or coffee is all you need to top off a meal. One person could easily eat this cake on their own (although I don't recommend it). We're a family of four and we finished it in two days (two slices each). I would say this could feed about 6-8 people depending on the slice. The cake is small, but it packs a punch as far as flavor. You don't need a huge slice in order to appreciate how delicious this is.

Bake Me a Wish has plenty of delightful cakes for your holiday get together including Red Velvet Cake, Tiramisu, Viennese Coffee Cake, Magic Bar Brownie cake and many more mouth watering delights.

Bake Me a Wish also is proud to send birthday cakes to our men and women who are serving our country overseas. It's called "Operation Birthday Cake". Operation Birthday Cake has been featured on CNN, Anderson Cooper, Good Morning America and ABC News to name a few. CLICK HERE to see what the delighted recipients of Operation Birthday Cake have to say about this. To learn more about Operation Birthday Cake, or to send a birthday cake to a man or woman serving in the military please visit this link,
http://www.bakemeawish.com/operation-birthday-cakes.php.

To make Bake Me a Wish cakes a part of your holiday gatherings this year visit them on line at www.BakeMeaWish.com. WARNING...do not view the site if you are hungry! Trust me on that one. Ha Ha.

The wonderful people at Bake Me a Wish would like to give one lucky She Scribes reader a Caramel Apple Cake of their very own. Thanks Bake Me a Wish!

To enter please visit Bake Me a Wish at www.BakeMeaWish.com. Look around and then comment on which cake makes you drool the most (LOL). Trust me, it won't be easy. They are all amazing looking.

For extra entries you can do any or all of the following. Just be sure to leave a separate comment for each that you have done.

- Blog about this review/giveaway and link back to both this post and Bake Me a Wish (www.BakeMeaWish.com). Please provide the URL of the post.

- Become a Fan of Bake Me a Wish on Facebook (CLICK HERE).

- Tweet about this review/giveaway on Twitter. Please include @She_Scribes in the tweet so I can see it too.

- Subscribe and/or Follow She Scribes. Both options are found on the right side bar (about 1/2 way down).

- Promote this review/giveaway in other ways (Facebook, Digg, Technorati...). Just be sure to tell me what you did and if possible provide a URL or name.

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on November 11, 2009 at 11:59 PM (EST). The winner will be chosen at random from all eligible entries using a random number generator. The winner will be contacted by e-mail and will have three days to reply with their name and mailing address (no PO Box) or a new winner will be chosen.

Don't forget to check out the other great Happy Holidays Giveaways. Look on the right side bar under "Win It".

*We received a free cake to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Cuisinart CleanWater - Fresh, clean water anytime (hot or cold!)

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:08:00 PST

Are you trying to make sure that you get enough water each day? Do you live in an area that has horrible tasting water? Do you like the convenience of having fresh, clean cold water at anytime? Would like to have hot water accessible to you within seconds to make a cup of tea? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions then you should get yourself the Clean Water system by Cuisinart.

The Cuisinart CleanWater Filtration System is a counter top water cooler. Instead of having to make room for a common water cooler the Cuisinart Clean Water system fits on your counter top. It comes in a 2-gallon size (which I have) and a smaller 1.5 gallon size.

The 2-gallon CleanWater Filtration System measures 10 by 10 by 14-1/2 inches and weighs about 15 pounds (without water). I live in a teeny, tiny condo and I have basically no counter space whatsoever in my kitchen, yet the CleanWater Filtration System fits just fine on my smallest counter space.

I can't even begin to tell you how much more water my entire family has been drinking since we set up the Cuisinart CleanWater on our counter top. Because cold water is available to us by just pressing a button at any time of the day or night my entire family is constantly drinking water. We do own a filtered water pitcher (from another company) but it's small and we're constantly filling it up. With our family of four we use the entire pitcher just so each of us can have a glass of water with dinner. Then we have to wait for it to fill up again and even longer for the water to get chilled in the fridge. With the Cuisinart CleanWater system we have plenty of cold water on hand all the time. With a 2-gallon capacity we have more then enough. Plus the water chills pretty quickly (about a 1/2 hour) so if for some odd reason we ran out of water we could have cold water again before dinner was over.

Setting up the CleanWater system did take a while between soaking the filter and most especially filling the cooler up. It took a long time to fill it up to full capacity. But now that it's filled it's easy enough to add more water to it. Every few times we take water we fill it back up again. Even my kids know to do it. It's very easy. All you need to do is lift the flap in the lid, pour in the water to the fill line and you are done.

I LOVE that the CleanWater system has cold, room temperature and hot water. There is even a special safety feature on the hot water button to keep little kids from burning themselves. You need to push up and in to use the hot water. My kids are old enough to know how to do it and of course they know not to play around with it either.

Having the hot water "on demand" like that is great! Now whenever the urge strikes me to make a cup of tea I don't have to worry about waiting for the tea pot to heat up. I just have to toss a tea bag in the cup and press the hot water button. It's THAT EASY!

Now my kids can make hot chocolate any time they want. Even they are excited about it. In the past they have had to wait for me to get the hot water going on the stove before they can have hot chocolate. Now they can have it within seconds!

The Cuisinart CleanWater Filtration System even has an energy saver feature. For example, in the hot weather where you might not normally have a need for the hot water you can simply turn it off and it will cut down on the energy usage. Currently that is how we have ours set. I don't think the system uses much energy to begin with. My husband hasn't noticed anything different with our electric bill. He's be the first person to tell me to unplug it if it was costing a lot of money to run. He says it's not a problem at all.

Here are my "Pros" and "Cons".

PROS:

- Cold water anytime!
- Hot water anytime!
- Energy Saver Feature
- Filter lasts a long time.
- Easy to fill up.
- Comes with a "clock" that lets you know when the filter needs to be replaced.
- It doesn't take up much room (not much bigger then a coffee maker).
- It encourages my family to drink more water.
- No monthly fees to rent a water cooler and have to pay for water bottles too.
- No waiting for filtered water in the pitcher to cool.

CONS:

- Pricey, at first. I think it more then pays for it's self over time.
- The motor when it's cooling/heating the water can be noisy. It's not THAT bad but you can hear it.
- Condensation builds up under the lid. I'm assuming that is OK?
- It's VERY heavy when filled with water and not easy to move around so you can clean under it.

Check out the video at the top of the post to see the CleanWater system in action. Those of you who subscribe or read in RSS you'll have to visit the site to see the video. It's very brief and worth the visit.

Overall I am extremely thrilled with the Cuisinart CleanWater Filtration System. This would be GREAT to have on hand when you are having people over for the holidays. That way you always have fresh clean cold water on hand and if your guests want tea or hot chocolate there is no waiting around for the pot to boil. Just press a button and their tea or hot chocolate is ready. Because it's such a large capacity system you can serve lots of guests tea or hot chocolate at once.

With New Year's fast approaching I know that many people include "get healthy" as part of their resolutions. Why not make drinking more water a resolution? Having the Cuisinart CleanWater Filtration System on hand would certainly help you to stick with it. It's hard to ignore water when it's right in front of your face on the counter. Plus having it handy like that makes you grab a glass without even thinking about it. You should see how much water my kids have been drinking since we got the CleanWater system.

This would make a GREAT gift for anyone including a college student, someone who lives where water is pretty bad, someone trying to get healthy, an elderly person and even yourself!

The Cuisinart CleanWater Filtration System is available at many retail locations as well as online such Amazon. The filters are also available at many locations as well (again, including Amazon).

My entire family give the Cuisinart CleanWater Filtration System a "two thumbs up" (in our case that would be EIGHT "thumbs up".

To learn more you can visit the official Cuisinart web site at www.Cuisinart.com.

*I received the Cuisinart CleanWater system free to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.

Fireside Coffee Holiday Drink & Gift Recipe

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 06:27:00 PST

Every year I usually make up a great big batch of Fireside Coffee. I found the recipe on the Internet years ago and fell in love with it. After I tried it myself I was hooked. It's quick and easy and makes a great gift!

Here is the recipe that I use. You are welcome to "tweak" it to suit your needs. Over the years I have altered it a bit here and there (add a little more of this, add a little less of that...).

Fireside Coffee Mix

Ingredients
2 c. instant cocoa mix
2 c. coffee creamer
1 c. instant coffee crystals
1 1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. Nutmeg
1 tsp. Cinnamon

Directions

Mix all the ingredients up together in a large bowl. Make sure to mix it very well so all the ingredients are blended together. You can use a blender but it might get messy. Store in an air tight container.

To use simply add a couple of heaping teaspoons to a mug or cup of hot water. You can adjust according to your tastes. It's sort of like a chocolate flavored coffee...or a coffee flavored chocolate? LOL!

If you serve this to guests use a candy cane to stir it up to give it a bit of a minty taste. Or you can sprinkle crushed candy canes on top for a lovely presentation.

I have also tried this with a dollop of Cool Whip on top. Yummy! You can even sprinkle on a little more cinnamon on top. Even marshmallows go great with this drink because it's partially like hot chocolate. You can really find many ways to add to it.

To give this as a gift fill up a decorative jar (even a mason jar would do) with the mix. Decorate the jar and give it a personalized label or hang tag letting the recipient know what it is and how to prepare it. Or you can get really creative and layer all the ingredients in the jar. All they would need to do is mix it up.

Usually I make several batches of this and fill up pretty holiday jars with the mix and give it to my kid's teachers, the mailman, the man who cleans our building and other people. My kids like it too but I only let them have it on rare occasions because there is coffee in it. I have yet to try it with decaf coffee but I suppose it would taste just as good.

I'm sorry I don't have a picture of it. I haven't made any as of yet.

Another great thing about this recipe is that it's VERY inexpensive to make. You can use generic store brand products and it tastes just as great.

Do you have any yummy drink recipes? I would love to hear from you.

I also added a widget to the left side bar which will feature lots of other delightful holiday drinks you can try out.

*I was not compensated in any way for this post. I posted this for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Six Tips to Reduce Stress This Holiday Season

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:22:00 PST

Don't let the holidays become "holidaze" this year. Instead, follow these six tips to make sure you are don't miss one delightful moment.

What are the holidays without a little stress tossed into the mix? Ha Ha. You are running around trying desperately not to forget anyone on your list. You are trying to find the "must have" toys of the season for your children. The in-laws are on their way and you have 12 dozen cookies to make for the cookie swap. Stress? Ha! That's an understatement.

Here are some really great tips from Hey UGLY, a unique web site that teaches teens and tweens understand they are Unique Gifted Lovable and it's okay to be You. To learn more about Hey UGLY please visit their web site at www.HeyUGLY.org.

TIP NUMBER ONE: Take time to smell the Holly.

Each year we stress out during the holiday season yet, when January 2nd rolls around we all wish we had slowed down to spend more time enjoying ourselves, friends and family. This year, when you get stressed, just take a few seconds to recall that feeling of regret. This remembrance will help you to slow down and de-stress.

TIP NUMBER TWO: Make a list and check it twice.

Sit down and make a list of each person you want to buy a gift for. Then write down the amount of money you want to allot to that person and list a few items you know they'll like. Think about what would make them smile as they open your gift. Funny, simple and inexpensive gifts that reflect some one's personality can often go a long way.

TIP NUMBER THREE: Combine your shopping.

Examine the list you made in tip number three above. Look for ways you can combine your shopping. For example, if you've decided to get Dasher and Dancer sweaters while you think Prancer and Vixen would prefer toys, map out your shopping to save time. Remember to wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Bring healthy snacks like sliced veggies, fruit and protein bars to keep your energy level up. Having snacks with you will help you avoid those hunger pangs that may tempt you to fill up on fast food, which does nothing more than slow you down. If you are shopping online allow ample time for shipping and delivery.

TIP NUMBER FOUR: Be like St. Nick and Laugh It Off.

Take a cue from Old St. Nick and laugh. Up to 80 muscles are used during a hearty laugh, the blood pressure rises, the heart beats faster and blood oxygen levels increase. In fact, a study released by Professor Gunther, Sickl, a German Gelotologist, revealed that a one-minute guffaw has the same health benefits as a 45-minute gym workout. When the laughter stops, the blood pressure returns to normal and stress hormones are reduced - actually strengthening the immune system. If you need a little help, you might want to pick up an audio Laughtercising (tm) CD which could be this year's best stocking stuffer. The CD contains 60 minutes of contagious laughter and it will lighten your mood and enable you to leave stress behind. Available for $10.00 at http://www.heyugly.org, 100% of profits go to Hey U G L Y., the nonprofit organization that helps teens and pre-teens counter bullying, eating disorders, substance abuse, violence and suicide. (U G L Y stands for Unique Gifted Lovable You.)

TIP NUMBER FIVE: Potluck dinners can be fun.

Why not make this year's holiday meal a potluck event? Ask your guests what they like to make at the holidays and encourage them to bring that dish. You'd be surprised at the culinary holiday traditions that emerge as each guest shares their stories about what they prepared. If baking is not your thing, most grocery stores today have a wonderful selection of holiday cookies, cakes and pies. Placed on a holiday plate, your guests will think these dessert items came right out of your own kitchen.

TIP NUMBER SIX: He sees you while you're sleeping.

Make sure you get plenty of sleep. Eight hours every night and, if you need it, a twenty minute nap in the afternoon can make a world of difference in your energy levels.

How do you like the stock bunny picture? I thought a little "warm fuzzies" would help you to de-stress too! LOL!

*I was not compensated in any way for this post. I posted this information for the benefit of my readers.

Scams to avoid this holiday season.

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 04:29:00 PST

Ho-Ho-Ho...you've just been scammed. OH NO! That is NOT what you want to have happen to you this time of year. Scammers are around all year long but this time of the year they seem to be out in full force. Scammers want YOUR money so they can buy themselves some high priced items on THEIR wish lists.

Here are a few simple tips to help you not get taken by a scam artist this holiday season by AppRiver's Senior Security Analyst Fred Touchette. For more information on AppRiver visit http://www.appriver.com/.

- Fake Holiday eCards: If you don’t recognize the sender, delete it. If the email is not addressed to you specifically, delete it. If you’re instructed to download an “executable program,” delete it.

- Fake Holiday Products: Often promoted via spam emails, always do your research. If you don’t recognize a company, don’t order anything from them until you’re sure they really exist.

- PayPal/eBay Phishing: Avoid following links that are provided for you in an email, especially if you are unsure of the sender. A frequent trick from spammers during the holidays is a link to a fake eBay or PayPal log-in page. Rather than follow links in emails, type it directly into your browser.

- Bank Phishing: Banks will never ask for your personal information, or provide your personal information, in an email. Also, keep an eye out for poor spelling and grammar. If you are not specifically addressed in the email, delete it.

- Letters from Santa: Although a nice idea for the kids, do your research. There are many companies out there that are fake. Ensure you know how long the company has been in business and check in with the Better Business Bureau to confirm existing companies.

I would also like to add to Mr. Touchette's list by reminding you to be aware of charitable organizations that call you. They are not always what they seem. I won't get into detail but I dated a guy once who did phone solicitation for a "charity". I found out that the "charity" was his boss's wallet! (I quickly broke up with him too). Sometimes people will call you saying that they represent such and such organization and want a donation. DON'T give out your credit card or personal information. Instead ask them to give you an address where you can send a check to. Then do a little research to make sure that it's a legitimate address for the charity before sending in a check.

Also beware of Craigslist if you are looking for part time seasonal work. Sadly I have found MANY scams on Craigslist on my quest to find a part time job. Trust me, there are so many scams going on right now that my local Craigslist even posted a warning before you even get to see available jobs.

These scams don't only exist around the holidays, these are year round. It's just easier to fall victim around the holidays because you are in such a happy and festive mood that you don't stop to think about all the bad stuff that is lurking around the corner.

*I was not compensated in any way for this post. I posted this for the benefit of my readers.

Host a Holiday Cookie Decorating Party

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:48:00 PST

One of the many things I love about the holidays is COOKIES! I can't bake to save my life (sadly). I even burn those pre-made cookies that you just have to pop into the over.

I totally admire those who can bake up a storm all day long and have dozens of cookies to share with family and friends. If you are one of those special people and ever make too many cookies or need someone to be a "taste tester" by all means, please keep me in mind. LOL!

I have always wanted to do one of those "cookie swaps" too. I can't imagine coming how with dozens of cookies. YUMMY!

Here is a fun article from Pastry Chef Cindy Mushet who is the author of Baking Kids Love and the award-winning The Art and Soul of Baking that I thought my readers might enjoy.

HOST A HOLIDAY COOKIE DECORATING PARTY!

Tips and Tricks from Pastry Chef Cindy Mushet
Author of Baking Kids Love and the award-winning The Art and Soul of Baking

A cookie-decorating party is a great way to bring family and friends together for some creative and delicious fun. Cindy Mushet has developed a plan over the years to help it all run smoothly. Here are some tips to make the party easy to plan.

Up to 1 month in advance:

- Make the cookie dough. Yes, you can make the dough in advance and still have fresh cookies! You’re going to freeze the rolled-out dough, then cut it and bake it a day or two before the party.

- Plan for plenty of cookies. I usually double or triple my favorite sugar cookie recipe (on page 41 in Baking Kids Love) so I have plenty of cookies on hand, but even a double batch will yield enough for a small party. Keep in mind that everyone will probably want to decorate several cookies.

- Roll out the dough as soon as you make it. This is when the dough is supple and easy to roll. If you find the dough is super sticky and difficult, your butter is too warm—simply chill the dough for 20 minutes or so before rolling. Roll out portions of the dough (about the size of a large grapefruit) between two sheets of parchment paper, following the directions in the recipe. The dough should be about 1/8-inch thick. Transfer the rolled-out dough (still between parchment) onto a baking sheet. Continue with the other portions, stacking them on the sheet. Wrap the baking sheet in plastic wrap several times and stash in the freezer until baking day.

- Buy the bling. Look for colored sprinkles and sanding sugars, silver dragées, colored candies—whatever strikes your fancy.

A day or two in advance:

- Bake the cookies. Remove the dough from the freezer and let it defrost on the counter for 5 to 10 minutes, until still cold but not frozen hard. Cut out the shapes you want, placing the cookie cutters as close together as possible, then carefully transfer the shapes to parchment-lined baking sheets and bake until light golden brown. Remember to bake similarly sized cookies on the same pan.

- Once the cookies have cooled, stack them up according to shapes in zip-top bags to keep the cookies airtight and fresh.

The day before:

- Make the frosting. I like to use meringue powder for the icing and whip up great mounds of it. Then I separate it into bowls and add food coloring. Make more of the most popular colors of the season, and smaller portions of accent colors. You’ll want several piping bags of the most popular colors.

- Divide the frosting among disposable piping bags and refrigerate overnight. The disposable bags make for easy cleanup when the party is over. Spoon the frosting into the bags until each one is 2/3 full, then twist the top and secure with a twist tie.

The day of the party:

- Prepare in advance for cleanup. Use party-themed plastic tablecloths and make cleanup a breeze. Paper towels and baby wipes make it easy for guests to clean up any sticky hands, spills and messy piping bags.

- Put frosting-filled pastry bags in a couple of large bowls and set them out at several points around the table. Cut the tips off the bags only when you’re ready to start piping, and cover their ends with a damp kitchen towel so the icing doesn’t dry out and harden.

- Set out the bling. Small bowls, cupcake liners and paper cups work well for holding decorations. If you like, put out a selection of other decorating tools, such as toothpicks, new paintbrushes (kid-size), and plastic knives so those who want to spread things around can do so easily.

- Provide paper plates for guests to take their masterpieces home. Guests can decorate their cookies right on the plates and write their names on the rim. The plates slip easily into gallon-sized zip-top bags, keeping the car trip home neat and clean.

- Serve something besides sugar. Have something simple to eat so everyone doesn’t fill up on cookies. I usually make a hearty soup or stew and serve it with some good bread. Hot chocolate and warm apple cider are great beverages for the party (and perhaps a little mulled wine for the adults). For dessert—cookies, of course!

* I was not compensated in any way for this post. I posted this information for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Inexpensive Stocking Stuffer with MANY Uses.

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:16:00 PST

Here is a GREAT idea for a stocking stuffer that I know not too many people would think about. Epsom Salts. Now, I know what you are thinking..."Epsom Salts? That is not a gift!" Well I wouldn't go so far as to say "gift", but I do think it would make a great stocking stuffer. You don't even need to wait for the holidays. You can take advantage of these great ideas right now. Best of all Epsom Salts are ridiculously inexpensive. It costs about the price of a cup of coffee. It has many "spa-like" uses too!

Check out these fun uses for Epsom Salts.

For pampering:

One of the first budget cuts for many families is spa trips and expensive bath beads, but Epsom Salt can be used to create the ultimate at-home spa. A relaxing bath or exfoliating treatment will leave you skin radiant and glowing.

- To exfoliate: Mix 2 cups of Epsom Salt with 1/4 cup of petroleum jelly and a few drops of lavender essential oil. Use the mixture to gently scrub away dry skin patches.

- Facial: Mix 1/2 TSP of Epsom Salt into cleansing cream for a deep-pore cleansing. Massage on skin. Rinse with cool water. Pat dry.

- For a relaxing soak: Add two cups of Epsom Salt to the water in a standard-sized bathtub; soak for at least 12 minutes, three times weekly. For an extra treat, add a few drops of eucalyptus oil for a refreshing scent.

- For a simple hair volumizer: Combine equal parts of warm, deep conditioner and Epsom Salt. Work the warm mixture through your hair and leave on for 20 minutes. Rinse.

- For a foot scrub: Mix 2 cups of Epsom Salt with 1/4 cup of petroleum jelly and a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Use the mixture to gently scrub the heels and dry, rough patches on the feet. Repeat every few days.

For gardeners:

Epsom Salt helps seeds germinate, makes plants grow bushier, produces more flowers, increases chlorophyll production and deters pests, such as slugs and voles. It provides vital micronutrients to supplement your regular fertilizer. Epsom Salt is recommended by Master Gardeners and used regularly by commercial growers around the world. Tests by the National Gardening Association confirm that roses fertilized with Epsom Salt grow bushier and produce more flowers, and it also makes pepper plants grow larger than those treated only with commercial fertilizer.

- Houseplants: 2 tablespoons per gallon of water; feed plants monthly.

- Tomatoes: 1 tablespoon per foot of plant height per plant; apply every two weeks.

- Roses: 1 tablespoon per foot of plant height per plant; apply every two weeks. Also scratch 1/2 cup into soil at base to encourage flowering canes and healthy new basal cane growth. Soak unplanted bushes in 1 cup of Epsom Salt per gallon of water to help roots recover. Add a tablespoon of Epsom Salt to each hole at planting time. Spray with Epsom Salt solution weekly to discourage pests.

- Shrubs (evergreens, azaleas, rhododendron): 1 tablespoon per 9 square feet. Apply over root zone every 2-4 weeks.

- Lawns: Apply 3 pounds for every 1,250 square feet with a spreader, or dilute in water and apply with a sprayer.

- Trees: Apply 2 tablespoons per 9 square feet. Apply over the root zone 3 times annually.

- Garden Startup: Sprinkle 1 cup per 100 square feet. Mix into soil before planting.

After exercising:

Epsom Salt– actually magnesium sulfate – can help people maintain optimum levels of both magnesium and sulfate. Sulfate helps form joint proteins and helps keep joints healthy, flushes toxins and improves absorption of nutrients. Magnesium regulates more than 325 enzymes in the body, performing more functions than almost any other mineral. Among the benefits: magnesium helps reduce inflammation to relieve pain and muscle cramps, helps muscles and nerves function properly and helps prevents artery hardening and blood clots.

- To ease muscle pain and fading bruises. Add two cups of Epsom Salt to warm water in a standard-sized bathtub (double the Epsom Salt for an oversized garden tub) and bathe three times weekly, soaking for at least 12 minutes. Also can be used to make compresses.

- To soothe feet aching from a tough workout or a long day, create a balm by adding a cup of Epsom Salt to a tub of warm water.

If you would like more great ideas you can visit www.epsomsaltcouncil.org.

You can even make an inexpensive gift with Epsom Salts. Pour some Epsom Salts into a large bowl. Add a few drops of essential oils and a few drops of food coloring. Mix it up and let it dry. Fill the mix in a decorative container. Jazz it up with some ribbons and maybe even a small scoop you can find from the local craft store.

A fun idea would be to color the Epsom Salts a light shade of red then add a few drops of Peppermint essential oils. That would make an inexpensive holiday gift for a friend, or even yourself!

*I was not compensated for this post in any way. I posted this for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Help Your Children Plan Their Good Deeds for the New Year

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 12:03:00 PST

I know what you are thinking..."Why is she posting a craft idea for the New Year?". Well think about it for a moment. Christmas is just 54 days away. New Years is LESS then two months away. Let's face it, the last few weeks of the year always fly by. So now is a great time to start this craft with your family.

Help Your Children Plan Their Good Deeds for the New Year

It is so important to teach our children to give freely of themselves and to be thankful for the blessings bestowed upon them. But how do we teach them, keep track of the events and be prepared in time? Create an Annual Children’s Good Deeds Calendar!

Take a brand new calendar for the upcoming year. Go through the calendar with your children and circle the date of a holiday or just select an appropriate date each month and decide on a good deed that, with a little help from you, your child can easily perform. If your children are having trouble coming up with their own ideas, here are some suggestions:

January - It’s a New Year with New Babies in Need! - Call your local hospital and find out what articles they take for donation of babies born to low income families and infants going out for adoption. When my husband and I adopted my son (abandoned by his birth Mom), we were given a lovely hand knitted cap for the baby. Your children can select (from a dollar store) some baby bibs, caps, sleepers, pacifiers, teething rings, etc. If your children are older, you can help them make some appropriate items. Select a day in the 1st week of the new year to deliver your items to the hospital.

February -Valentine’s Day - So many of our older citizens are alone in nursing homes during the month of love. Your children can show these folks they are loved! Call a nursing home to make arrangements, spend an hour visiting with the elders and distributing handmade Valentine’s Day cards.

March - The 1st Day of Spring - I’m sure you know a neighbor or family member who could use a little help in the garden. If not call your local county for information on a program in your area that beautifies the neighborhood. Plant a few flowers and do some weeding to brighten the way!

April - Easter - Let your child share the true meaning of Easter with friends at an Easter party. Mom reads the story from a children’s Bible. Then each child is assigned to draw one part of the Easter story.

1. The Last Supper

2. Christ praying to God in Gethsemane

3. Christ with a crown of thorns

4. Christ carrying the cross

5. Christ on the cross

6. Jesus rising from the tomb.

Each child draws their assigned picture six times with crayons or markers on construction paper. Then the children all share their pages and create their own book with a hole puncher and yarn ties. Then the children sit in a circle and each child gets to tell what their part of the story, according to the page they drew, means to them. Of course then you eat lunch and for desert you serve cross shaped Easter candy instead of rabbits and eggs and each child gets to take home their “True Meaning of Easter” book to share with their own family.

May 4th National Day of Prayer - As a family, a few days before, make up a list of people and situations for which the power of prayer can assist our country. Write the prayer together as a family and the children can share it at Sunday school. The prayer can include the president, our servicemen, etc. Say the prayer together as a family at dinner time while holding hands.

June - The 1st Day of Summer - Have a yard/garage sale of all those old toys and things that Mom and Dad don’t use anymore. Donate the proceeds to a favorite charity.

July - Independence Day - Visit a Veteran’s home (make arrangements), bring homemade lemonade and ask the Veteran’s questions. This is a great way for children to learn about the sacrifices our Veteran’s made for our independence.

August 22nd - Be an Angel Day - Your child can be an anonymous Guardian Angel by selecting a good deed to do for someone, completing the task when they are not around, and leaving behind a handmade “Your Guardian Angel is Watching Over You” card behind. The card can be made a head of time but the deed has to be selected on that day. It will be up to your child to recognize and perform the deed. Some examples to get your children thinking are:

1. Lugging the heavy garbage cans from the side of the house to the street for the elderly lady who struggles to do so.

2. Stacking the pile of firewood the delivery man dumped in the driveway neatly beside the house for the elderly gentleman across the street.

3. Making up a picnic basket lunch of non perishables like canned tuna fish, a small loaf of bread, a small jar of mayo, a small jar of pickles and a bottle of juice and leaving it on the doorstep of a family in need.

September - The 1st Day of Autumn - I’m sure you know a neighbor or family member who could use a little help in the yard. If not call your local county for information on a program in your area that beautifies the neighborhood. Rake leaves and pick up debris to brighten the way!

October - Breast Cancer Month - Make pink ribbons to sell at school, church and in the neighborhood and donate the proceeds to breast cancer research or treatment center.

November - Thanksgiving - Have your children write a special thank you letter to someone who did something really nice for them. You child can select a family member, Sunday school teacher or friend. This is a great way to get children really thinking about the blessings bestowed upon them and how important it is to let people know how much you appreciate them.

December - Christmas is for Giving - All year the children fill a jar or can with the families pennies. Right before Christmas the children cash the pennies in at the bank for dollar bills Then they buy toys and donate them to Toys for Tots or a similar charity or orphanage.

Creating a Good Deeds for the New Year calendar is a fun project that is sure to become an annual tradition, a tradition that hopefully will be passed on down through the generations to come.

************************************************

Elaine Stephen is a work at home Christian Mom who writes true stories and original poems on her blog Inspirational Christian Stories, Poems, Gifts at http://inspirationalgifts.blogspot.com that help us to open our hearts, minds and eyes to see God's presence and his blessings in our everyday lives. Elaine also sells inspirational gifts that express God’s word, Christ's sacrifice and inspire Christian love, comfort and joy from her Inspirational Gift Gallery web site at http://storesonline.com/site/inspirationalgift.

* I was not compensated for this post. I posted this for the benefit and enjoyment of my readers.

Holday Beer Bread Recipe

hunnyv@optonline.net (Kimberly) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:23:00 PST

Here is another interesting recipe that Gale over at Scribble Prints says has become a holiday tradition with her family. It sounds very interesting and I cannot wait to try it out myself.

Beer Bread

3 Cups Self-Rising Flour
3 TBSP Sugar
1 12 oz can of beer (any variety will do)
1/4 cup melted butter (optional - drizzle on top to make crust golden and add flavor, but can be left off to cut fat)

Grease bread pan with butter or Crisco and coat with flour.
Mix flour, sugar and beer.
Place dough in pan and drizzle with butter (optional).
Bake at 350 degrees 50 minutes or until golden.

I'm sorry that I don't have an image of this to share with you. If I get a chance to make it in the near future I'll show you a picture of my bread.

A special thank you to Gale over at Scribble Prints for sharing this recipe with me and my She Scribes readers. Gale also has some free holiday coloring pages you can print and color. Please note they are for non-commercial use only. Here is the link...
http://galesgifts.windhavenweb.com/printouts.html

You can also stop by and say "Hello" and "Happy Holidays" to Gale. You can find her at http://scribbleprints.blogspot.com.

Thanks Gale!

*I was not compensated for this post in any way. I posted this for the benefit and entertainment of my readers.