Best Hot Chocolate Ever

With most of the country in the cold, I wanted to share my homemade hot chocolate recipe with you.

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 4 1/2 cup milk (I use 2%)
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• tiny marshmallows for garnishing

On stove top in a medium saucepan, add condensed milk, whipping cream, and milk. Heat on medium heat for a few minutes. Then add the cocoa, Continuously stir blending the cocoa as the milk heats up. Do not boil. Once cocoa is steaming and well blended, it's ready to serve. Pour into your favorite mug and garnish with marshmallows (as you can see, I like a lot). 

Store left over in the refrigerator. 

Enjoy and stay warm!

I've Got New Year Fever

New Year Fever!!! Is that some new disease? It isn't new to me, I get it every year. Is it contagious? Although, you may already have it, or you may catch it after I share with you. 

First, I must say that I love organizing. I think this is the root of my sickness. It causes me to ponder and plan my days, months, and even the year until I'm blue in the face. With that being said, you know where I'm going with this...I plan my year. Projects and ideas overwhelm me. I find myself feeding off ideas and then adding, changing, multiplying this and that. Yes, this can be good, but too much is STRESS.

I'm often debilitated by Pinterest. So many wonderful ideas...sewing projects, quilt blocks, recipes, gardening ideas, chicken coop designs, remodeling know-how. Anything can be found here! My mind is swirling with "I got to do this" scenarios. 

Are you a member of any Facebook groups? I am. I'm on a few hiking groups, cooking groups, and quilting groups. All filled with great ideas that feed my mind.

I love going to Estate sales! Of course, I have to be on the look-out for wonderful vintage pieces for my store, but also I look for things to repurpose...hence another project. EstateSale.net sends me messages daily of sales going on in my area. 

It has been a little cold for flea markets, but that doesn't diminish my desire to go rummage around for some great finds.This symptom grows as warm weather increases.

Gazing upon beautiful fabrics sets my creative receptors in high gear. Oh, the fabric I've bought with a future project in mind. Let's just say, my stash is not short of hoarding.

My down time is often spent flipping through a new quilting or sewing book or magazine. My shelves are full books with dog-eared pages for future projects.

What is the cure for New Year Fever? For the OCD organizer, there is not cure, but there is continuous treatment. For me, I have to stay grounded in who I am and what I can do. I let my OCD organizing order and prioritize which projects that are important to me. 

This year I'm going to:

• Continue revamping my store. I have several new pieces that I will be adding to my handmade line.
• Finished a large queen size quilt I've been working on for a while.
• Our porch railing needs redone.
• I'm going to build a small chicken coop
• Start a raised bed garden

Although, I have many more projects and ideas, this is top 5 priority list. Do you now have New Year Fever?

Recycling Glass Jars

I have the hardest time throwing away glass jars. Spaghetti sauce, Peperoncini, diced jalapenos, yeast...all glass jars I refuse to trash. As my pantry piles high with glass jars, I ponder what to do with them. I can not reuse them for canning. My son would like to use them for target practice but I do not want the pasture full of glass. Pinterest has many ideas to decorate and use with Mason jars, why not these jars? So instead of buying tins or bags this year, I decided fill them with homemade candy as give them out this year.

I got the jars clean, some had to be washed more than once to get the strong pepper odor out. Lids are outside in the sun with a nice coat of red spray paint on them. My supplies consisted of ribbon, small snowflake ornaments, hot glue, Mod Podge, glitter, Epson salt. You will also need a small brush and bowls.

I hot glued the ribbon and snowflakes into position. In the bowls I mixed glitter and Epson salt. The ratio depends on how much glitter you like. Then I bushed the lids with Mod Podge and dipped them into the salt/glitter mixture. Tap the bottom to remove any loose pieces. I repeat this procedure with the bottom of the jars. I am not talking about the bottom the jar sits on, but just the lower part of the jar. Now leave them to dry a few hours

I am making homemade pecan turtles to fill in these jars. The recipe is located HERE.

 Jars do make a nice gift reservoir, not limited to Christmas. Here is where your creativity can soar!!! Birthday, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day...the ideas are endless.

 Do you have a great recycle/repurpose idea? Share it with us.