Archive for Articles

St. Patrick’s Day!

Posted by Brande on March 17, 2011
in Articles, Education, Family Stuff, Food and Treats, Fun Stuff, Holidays, Seasonal Stuff

I’m far from Irish, but like many other people I will be Irish for a day! I’ve got my corned beef & cabbage in the slow cooker. So, join in on the fun!

Who is St. Patrick?

http://familyfun.go.com/st-patricks-day/st-patricks-day-history-971546/
People all over the world celebrate on the 17th day of March in honor of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. Some cities have parades, most revelers wear green, and a few families commemorate the day with traditional Irish fare for their meal. However, everyone may not know who St. Patrick is.

Born in Britain during the 4th century, St. Patrick was kidnapped and enslaved by Irish raiders when he was a teenager. Although he was able to escape after six years and become a priest in Britain, he later chose to return to Ireland as a missionary, in order to help spread the teachings of Christianity to pagans. According to Irish folklore, he also used a shamrock to explain the Christian concept of Trinity to the Irish. In spite of continuous opposition from pagan leaders, he continued to evangelize for thirty years while baptizing newly converted Christians and establishing monasteries, churches, and schools. He died on March 17th and was canonized by the local church.

St. Patrick’s Day was first publicly celebrated in Boston in 1737 where a large population of Irish immigrants resided. Nearly 200 years later, the first St. Patrick’s Dayparade in the Irish Free State was held in Dublin in 1931. During the mid 90’s, the Irish government also began a campaign to promote tourism in Ireland on March 17th.

While many Catholics still quietly celebrate this day of religious observance by going to mass, St. Patrick’s Day slowly evolved to become a celebration of Irish heritage. Through the years, along with legendary shamrocks, many symbols were included in festivities that are reflective of Ireland’s folklore, culture, and national identity (think leprechauns, ethnic cuisine, and wearing green).Other places that join in on this celebration include Japan, New Zealand, Argentina, and Canada, along with many cities across the United States.

Here’s a fun family dessert for everyone to help out with also from Family Fun Magazine! I’ve made them, and they are really cute! http://familyfun.go.com/st-patricks-day/st-patricks-day-recipes/st-patricks-day-desserts/clover-cupcakes-687369/

Clover Cupcakes

It doesn’t take the luck of the Irish to make these St. Patty’s Day treats look so sweet — just a clever baking technique.

Ingredients

Cupcake batter
Cupcake tins and liners
Aluminum foil
White frosting

Green food coloring
Toothpick
Green licorice (we used Twizzlers Rainbow Twists sold in a pack with other colors)

Instructions

Place paper liners in 32 standard muffin cups, then fill each halfway with the batter.
For each cupcake, roll three balls of foil (ours were 2/3 inch in diameter) and insert them evenly around the perimeter between the liner and the tin, as shown.
Bake the cupcakes for a few minutes less than the package suggests (because there’s less batter per cup than usual), or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Allow the cupcakes to cool, then remove them from the tin.
Cover each with green frosting (our ratio was 1 teaspoon of green food coloring to one 16-ounce can of white frosting).
Use a toothpick to draw leaf veins, and insert a 2-inch-long piece of green licorice for a stem.

Share and Enjoy

{One comment}

Thrifty Thursday: Create Cards with Melissa from Itty Chic

Posted by html404 on March 10, 2011
in Articles, Guest Post, Thrifty Thursday

Editor’s Note: This is a guest post. While we appreciate our guest writer’s submissions, this does not constitute endorsement or agreement to the opinions expressed in the articles featured.

My name is Melissa Correll with Itty Chic! You can create cards, scrapbook pages, and anything else that you set your mind to with things you already have around your house!

Today, we are going to create a simple card out of:

Cardstock

Buttons

Cotton Twine

Glue

A stamp with your favorite saying

Ink in your color of choice

Step one: Take your page of card stock and cut it in half. Then fold your half in half to create a blank card.

Step two: Choose your buttons and cut your twine. I had a bag of random buttons sitting around and I chose my colors out of that. You will need 6 buttons for the petal of each flower and a color for the center. Then you will choose buttons for your leaves. Use cotton twine just like what you use to sew up your turkey on thanksgiving! Cut it long so that it will be easy to handle

Step three: Lay everything out so that you can see how it will turn out. Play with the arrangement till you like how it looks!

Step four: Bring out the glue! Now it is time to make your creation a reality. Start by putting down the centers of your flowers and building the petals around them one at a time. Next, you are going to want to glue down the twine. The easiest way to do this is to either lay a thin line of glue directly on the paper and lay the twine over it, or run your glue down the twine and place the twine down that way. Once your twine is placed, you should still have the ends hanging off the end of the card, leave these until the twine dries! Place your leaves and let the glue dry.

Step five: Time to finish it up! Cut your loose ends and choose your favorite stamp, I chose simply Smile! With a bright lavender ink. Something important to remember when you are stamping, push straight down and pull up, or you will end up with uneven ink, or a double image!

Step six: Bless someone else. Now that your card is finished, all you need to do is find someone to give it too!

More about Melissa and Itty Chic: I started my business in Mid July of 2010 with the sale of cards, and memory boards. I grew up poor and loved turning nothing into something. I started my business because my goal is eventually to quit my day job and be a stay at home mom. I want to raise my future children, not have them raised by a daycare. To see this and more, go to http://ittychic.com and http://ittychic.com/Blog!

Share and Enjoy

{One comment}

Homeopathy

Posted by html404 on January 25, 2011
in Articles, Blog Stuff, Health & Garden Tuesday

Editor’s Note: This post is not meant to replace medical advice or that of your physician. Our family’s experience with Homeopathy has been somewhat limited. I have used it in my last two pregnancies. One (pulsatilla) to help baby turn from breech and another to help speed up labor (cannot remember the name!) But it worked too.

Getting Started with Homeopathy

Homeopathy is an alternative form of medicine that has been used for thousands of years to treat everything from life threatening illnesses to the common cold. While many people use to modern medicine may find it suspicious, it is still one of the most used types of medical treatment worldwide and is steadily gaining popularity in the western world.

Homeopathic medicine is based on three basic principles. The biggest principle of homeopathy is that like treats like. Instead of treating based on the disease doctors think you have, treatment is done based on the symptoms you know you have. The second principle is that there is only one treatment, not two or even ten like a traditional doctor might give you. The third principle is that everything is given in extremely small doses.

To treat yourself homeopathically, you must figure out all the symptoms. Once you know your symptoms, you find a substance that causes the exact same set of symptoms and take a small amount of it. Because you are only taking a very small amount, the substance not only doesn’t harm you, it’s said to cure you, generally long term or even permanently.

When most people hear about homeopathy, their initial reaction is “no way!” Treating symptoms with something that causes your symptoms seems totally counter intuitive, but it’s a concept that’s used in modern medicine as well as more ancient cures. Shots commonly used to treat allergies contain a small amount of whatever you’re allergic to. Many vaccines contain a small amount of the disease they’re designed to protect against.

While homeopathic medicine is not only considered effective, it has many benefits over modern medicine. Like many other natural medical treatments, most homeopathic remedies are totally natural. While this doesn’t necessarily make them safe, these remedies tend to cause fewer side effects, have little drug interactions, and are generally better for your overall health.

Homeopathic medications are also considered better for your body because they work with it. Many modern medicines work to suppress symptoms like fever or coughing. These symptoms are the body’s natural ways to get rid of disease. Instead of suppressing symptoms, homeopathic medicine works to cure the problem itself while addressing the specific symptoms.

When the right treatment is found, homeopathy is considered very effective. The big problem is that just like there are thousands of prescriptions and over the counter drugs, there are also thousands of homeopathic remedies as well. And if you don’t pick exactly the right one, it won’t work.

While you can buy homeopathic remedies over the counter, just like herbal and other alternative medicines, that doesn’t mean it’s 100% safe to treat yourself. If you’re serious about this treatment you should speak to a doctor who has experience in alternative medicine or even see a specialist in the area.

Share and Enjoy

{No comments}

Imua

Posted by html404 on January 3, 2011
in Articles

A great Hawaiian saying is “Imua!” which means to move forward with confidence and courage. It’s a great word for the upcoming new year as we explore new opportunities and perhaps face fears.

This week, I put into practice “imua” by facing my fear of ziplining. Yes, I stepped off a wooden platform to soar across 1800 feet of the world’s fifth largest caldera located in Kauai. Encouraged by my teenage daughters, I faced my fear of not being in control of my destiny and took a leap of faith.

The excellent guides, Mitch and Chris of Outfitters Kauai prepared us well for our ultimate “black diamond” zipline adventure. We did several practice runs on what I thought were “big ziplines” but little did I know what was really awaiting. The guides constantly reminded us that the most important lesson we all needed to learn to be safe was to “trust our gear.”

True wisdom that I needed to hear. For too long in life, I have “held on tightly” when what I should have done was to “let go and let God.” He provides “the gear” that we need to sustain us through the difficult moments of life as we soar across jungles.

So I guess my advice would be this: “Face your fear and trust God’s gear.” IMUA!!

What fear do you need to face this year? What have you been holding on too tightly? What does “imua” mean to you?

Margaret McSweeney is the founder of Pearl Girls (www.pearlgirls.info), the host of Kitchen Chat (http://margaretmcsweeney.com/kitchen-chat/), and an author. Her book, Pearl Girls: Encountering Grit, Experiencing Grace, was published in 2009. Margaret is fast at work on a fiction manuscript (or three) and can be found blogging at From Finance to Fiction (http://fromfinancetofiction.blogspot.com).