Girly Summer Swap Package Arrives!

Hooray

My package from Shanna arrived and look at all the wonderful things I was given.

A great roll-up beach blanket-  This is perfect because my other one was getting taken over by the kids.

Country Time Strawberry Lemonade- YUM

Adorable plastic glasses with pictures of Strawberry Lemon- probably a grapefruit but I like Strawberry Lemon better.

Cute Summer time napkins- Perfect for all those summertime BBQ's

A blow-up beach ball- The kids will have fun with this one!

For those just tuning in, this was a Girly Summer Swap hosted by April at dot...dot...dot

We were paired up with someone and switched summertime gift packages.  

Such fun

Hope Shanna liked hers. :)

Spiced Popcorn

This original recipe post is from a favorite blog of mine, Food, Wine, & Pod Podge.  I highly suggest giving her a visit.
Start by popping 1/2 cup popcorn in the way that you like. We sometimes do air popped popcorn, but for this recipe, we decided to use Alton Brown's Perfect Popcornpreparation method.

We used 1/2 cup popcorn with 2 tbs peanut oil.




Toss to coat the kernels in oil, and quickly cover tightly with aluminum foil.



Poke a few holes in the top to allow the steam to vent.



Keep it constantly moving so the kernels don't settle. It will start to pop fairly quickly. Don't stop shaking the bowl until all kernels are popped, approximately 3 minutes. Then remove from heat and set aside.

Now grab the ingredients for the spiced topping.



- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder (the recipe calls for cayenne, but I couldn't find our cayenne so I substituted it with the chipotle powder)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons salt

And of course, we can't forget the most important ingredient of all...



Butter! The recipe calls for 4 tbs, or 1/2 stick.

Melt the butter, and then add the dry ingredients and stir until the sugar has dissolved and the ingredients have melded together.



Now go back to your big bowl of popcorn, and very slowly drizzle about 1/4 of the spice mixture on top. Toss the popcorn, and add 1/4 more, then toss, 1/4 more, toss, the last 1/4, and toss again. The goal is even coverage of the popcorn, so however it works for you!



Now dig in! This is an awesome salty-savory-sweet popcorn, and it goes great with a Corona on a lazy Saturday afternoon! Enjoy!

Marshmallow Snowflakes

Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart 2008

I made these last year for teachers gifts and they absolutely loved them.  They also make a great hostess of extra something gift during the winter season.

• 2 envelopes (each 1 scant tablespoon) unflavored gelatin
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup light corn syrup
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray

Directions

1. Coat a 12-by-17-inch rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray; line with parchment paper. Spray parchment; set aside. Pour 1/3 cup cold water into the bowl of an electric mixer. Sprinkle with gelatin; let mixture soften, about 5 minutes.
2. Place sugar, corn syrup, salt, and 1/3 cup water in a medium saucepan. Cover; bring to a boil. Remove lid; cook, swirling pan occasionally, until syrup reaches 238 degrees (soft-ball stage) on a candy thermometer, about 5 minutes.
3. With mixer on low speed, whisk gelatin mixture, and slowly pour the syrup in a steady stream down the side of the bowl (to avoid splattering). Gradually raise speed to high; beat until mixture is thick, white, and has almost tripled in volume, about 12 minutes. Add vanilla, and beat 30 seconds to combine.
4. Pour mixture onto prepared baking sheet; smooth with an offset spatula. Let stand at room temperature, uncovered, until firm, at least 3 hours or overnight.
5. Coat a 1- or 2-inch snowflake-shaped cookie cutter with cooking spray to prevent it from sticking. Cut out as many individual marshmallows as possible; coat cutter with more spray as needed. Use marshmallows immediately or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.