Hot off the Needles!

Holiday scarves, feminine and frilly. Approximately 60 to 70 inches long, made with a wool/ acrylic blend Italian yarn. Soft and warm, hand wash, lay flat to dry.

  $30.00

What's in YOUR cosmetics???

We love natural beauty!

If you are concerned about what is in your cosmetics there is some good reading over at the Wash Stand. We have posted links to some informative sites and to Skin Deep, EWG's cosmetics information site, and a video which has some interesting facts.

We have also posted a few simple recipes for those of you who like to make your own products. We make a number of our own creams, etc., for our personal use, and have saved hundreds of dollars over the commercial cost, PLUS we know exactly what we are putting on our bodies.

For more information go to:  www.washstand.blogspot.com.

My Beautiful Mother, 1914 - 2003

If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden.

– Attributed to Claudia Ghandi

Watch and be inspired!

Super Quick and Easy Stove top Granola

We like granola, and almost every day we enjoy a healthy serving of juicy red grapefruit topped with a scoop of plain yogurt, a handful of granola, and a sprinkling of nuts for breakfast. Mmm mmm!

This morning, with my mind set on our usual breakfast parfait, and realizing we had finished off the granola and I hadn't had time to make any more, I suddenly had a brainwave! I decided to try toasting the oats in our cast iron pan on the stove to make a kind of instant granola so at least the oats would be a bit crispy rather than raw.

I'm pleased to say it turned out great! So I thought I'd share it with you in case you too have a day when you are pressed for time but have a hankering for homemade granola. I didn't measure anything so I'll try to estimate amounts but remember that granola is whatever you want it to be, and the variations are endless, so be creative and just use what seems good to you.
Ingredients:
oats (I use old fashioned)
oil, any healthy cooking oil (coconut would be wonderful)
maple syrup
coconut
dried fruit (raisins, cranberries, apricots, prunes, dates, etc)
nuts

I warmed the pan up first on medium heat then added about a cup of oats and stirred them all around. Next I drizzled about 2 Tbsp. of oil over the oats, stirred some more, and then turned the heat down quite low. Still stirring, I sprinkled about 2 Tbsp of maple syrup over it and continued. I didn't want it to burn so I stirred it almost continuously until the oats began to turn golden and start to crisp up. At this point I added coconut, again about 2 Tbsp, and continued stirring. The coconut browned up quickly so I didn't leave it on the heat for long because I like coconut with just a little golden colour. I quickly removed the pan from the heat and added the rest - raisins, cranberries, pecan pieces, and chopped dates. I forgot the sunflower seeds so next time I'll add those as well. When the mixture cools down it will be nice and crispy.

The whole procedure took only about 15 minutes plus a few more to cool down so we were munching on our 'nola parfaits in less that 25 minutes, and we still have some left for tomorrow.  The bonus is it didn't require heating up the whole oven and waiting for 45 minutes to an hour for it to bake so we managed to save some energy as well.

Fresh bread made easy