Flubber

1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups white elmer's glue (not washable or school glue...just all purpose)
food coloring (optional) use one drop till desired color

mix together in a bowl and set aside

1 1/3 cups warm water
2 level tsp borax

mix together in a different bowl until borax is dissolved

Pour the borax solution into the glue solution while stirring. Flubber will instantly form leaving excess water. Pour excess water out and kneed flubber with hands till smooth. Store in a class jar.

I have THREE fun ideas for this stuff:

1. This fun project makes flubber for kids to just play with like they would playdough or clay. It makes a great stocking stuffer and can be made into pretty colors.

2. For the magician in the family, you can place it in a glass jar as a magic trick. "Unspillable milk" in a jar can trick even the smartest adult if it's left white and no food coloring is added. Let the flubber settle into the glass for a day and it will look just like shiny liquid milk.

3. If you aren't too strict when it comes to laughing about gas (I've had to learn to pick my battles) then you can make your own "toots in a jar". I'm sure you've seen this stuff before where you stick your finger into the can and it makes wonderful toot noises. Ya, boys get a kick out of these silly things. Be sure to tint your toot flubber green. I don't know why, that's just the color it comes in at the store. This is another great stocking stuffer. Tie a little tag on it saying what it is with instructions to push your finger into the jar.

Finger Prints On My Cookie Jar

This is basically my cookie jar and I love that it always has these little hand prints all over it. =0) Although it's rarely filled with cookies....but rather homemade granola bars and healthy muffins.

Recipe for Dryer Sheets

Awhile back I started making homemade wool dryer balls in hopes of replacing them for dryer sheets. Many reviews have said that they have had great success with these wool dryer balls because they
1. eliminate static
2. soften clothes
3. speed up drying time to make your dryer more efficient

So, I made them at the end of this last summer:

1 spool of 100% wool yarn for one ball (has to be the kind that will felt when you wash it-if it says "washable" then it's not the right kind)
1 crochet hook


Wind the yarn into a ball. About half way through, cut it off and tuck the end into the ball using the crochet hook. Then put the ball into an old foot of a nylon and tie in a knot. Throw in your washer machine with a few loads to felt it. Then throw the nylon with the yarn ball (or more-you can tie up several in a chain) into your dryer to complete the felting process. Now you have a core for your ball.

Use the rest of the yarn to wrap around the ball making it bigger and closer to the size of a tennis ball. Tuck the end into the ball with a crochet hook. Now put it into a nylon again and repeat the felting process in the washer machine and dryer.

Now you can take them out of the nylon and leave them in your dryer with every load.

I used one of these for several loads and my clothes still had static. Upon further research, I made sure that I didn't over dry the clothes..it improved but still had static. Running the dryer on my auto moisture cycle helped insure I wasn't over drying them.

So, I did more research and it turns out that some places are just too dry for these to eliminate all the static. My next tactic was to use more than one but I noticed no difference even with 4 balls in my dryer load. BUT- they did speed up drying time which made my dryer more efficient and they did soften the clothes!

So, now I use a combo of wool dryer balls (here's a good tutorial but the only thing I did differently was to actually tie the nylon in a knot at each ball because when I tied it off with yarn it came undone and was a huge tangled nest mess in my washer!) and a washcloth sprayed with liquid fabric softener. This eliminates having to buy dryer sheets and makes the fabric softener last a long time which saves me money. I use the same washcloth over and over and wash it from time to time to get rid of build up.

Go here to see my homemade laundry detergent recipe.

Recipe for a Simmer Pot

I saw this idea on several other blogs and I thought it was wonderful so I made some for our Sunday School teachers as a THANK YOU for all they do. =0)

I tested it out before giving them away as little gifts and I was really impressed with how good it made the house smell. Yum! I just had to keep reminding myself that it wasn't a drink!

My version per jar:
1/2 sliced lemon
1/2 sliced orange
2 cinnamon sticks
1 tbsp whole cloves
1 tsp Italian herbs (dried)

Tip: you can buy spices and herbs much cheaper in the Hispanic cooking aisle of your grocery store usually than in the regular spice aisle.

Fill a jar with the above ingredients and then fill with water. Tie with a ribbon or raffia. Use an address label to stick on directions:

Simmer Pot
Empty this jar into a pot on your stove (or crock-pot on high) and add another full jar of water and simmer on low for aroma for several hours. After it has reduced back down, place contents back into jar and store in refrigerator till ready to use again.

psst....a few things to note this week....

I'm making biscotti this week. If you haven't tried making it before click here and scroll down to last year's biscotti series.

Our family business is running a Christmas sale. Check it out here.

Tis the season to make dough ornaments...don't forget they are here....or better yet, make them into handprint plaques for gifts.

Looking for a unique little ornament to bake....try these apple cinnamon ornaments.

Check back here this week for Jesus in the Manger cookies....

Homemade Laundry Detergent

This recipe is one that I'm really happy with. It's a dry mix of laundry detergent. I researched and found all kinds of recipes that used water and made a gel type detergent that required large buckets in your laundry room....something I wasn't interested in storing or tripping over....so this compact version works well for me.

Why make my own? For me it's about saving money! I'm AMAZED at how much money I can save making my own detergent. Some people do it because it's "green" but I'll admit that it comes right down to saving money for me! One little container will last so longgggggggggg!

How well does it work? I wouldn't put it on here if I didn't think it was shockingly great! It doesn't make a lot of suds...commercial detergents have sudsing agents added to them so that when you look in your washer machine you feel good about the soap doing it's job but really suds are not what clean your laundry. This recipe makes a little bit of suds at first but they die out. For me, the true measurement was how much dirty the detergent pulled out of the clothes and into the water and I have to say I was impressed with how dirty the water got or frightened with how dirty it got...depending on how you look at it. Once the clothes came out I actually felt that they were even cleaner than my commercial detergent had done! I'm completely switched over.


1 bar of Fels Naptha soap grated (I grate it with my salad shooter but any electric cheese grater works well)
1 cup of Borax
1 cup of Super Washing Soda (made by Arm & Hammer)


Grate the fels naptha bar of soap. I was concerned that this would be the difficult part and if anything is difficult or time consuming you can just count me out. But, I had the idea of using my salad shooter that has a cheese grater attachment. It worked great and was super easy clean up cause I just stuck it in the dishwasher afterwards!

Mix the grated soap, borax and washing soda together. That's it, you're done!

Add 1 tbsp to light loads
Add 2 tbsp to large loads or heavily soiled clothes

What is Super Washing Soda? I have no idea! The better question is where to buy it. I couldn't find it in my area until calling the number on the back of Arm & Hammer baking soda (NOT THE SAME THING!) and asking the company to tell me what store in my area sold it. There was only one so off I went to get it. Need to find one in your area...you can ask online here or you can call this number 1-800-524-1328

DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT use BAKING SODA! It has to be Super Washing Soda as seen in the picture. One box will do cause you only need 1 cup but I bought two because I had a hunch that I'd be making a lot.

I usually make a double batch of this and store in a container.

Not interested in my dry recipe? Here is a link to several other laundry detergent recipes of all sorts.

psst....I stopped buying dryer sheets too....more to come on that later.

1 year old

What's Cooking just turned 1 year old today!

Our eating has really changed this year thanks to this blog! I'm excited to see what new and healthy recipes we find to make this coming year!

If you're new to What's Cooking be sure to check out our category list to the right.

If you've followed What's Cooking for a long time, thank you for your dedication to follow us!

Oh, and the cupcakes are on us today so please take one and enjoy! You can pick off the nuts if you don't like them. =0)

(in case you are wondering, I'm sure the cupcake is totally good-for-you! I'm sure it's made with squash and pasta and then frosted with a cauliflower icing. j/k)

Only the best

I've tried and photographed about 5 new recipes recently that I wasn't thrilled about. I won't put them on here because I'm committed to bring you only the best. I'd have a lot more to post if I compromised and put stuff on here that was just so-so or the family begged me not to make again. So with that I will be bringing you a few non-recipe items this week along side a few good recipes to fill up the week. I'll keep trying new ones and throwing out the bad ones. =0)

Recipe for a homemade Christmas

I was putting this list together for some friends and thought I'd post it here as well. If you need some ideas for homemade Christmas gifts....here's a great list to start with. If you have ideas to share, please comment on this post! I should mention that most of these are really easy because I only do easy!

wood serving tray
gift in a jar recipes
dough ornaments
dough hand print plaque
apple cinnamon ornaments
hand print towels
stone coasters and trivets
pot birdbath
other birdbath ideas
child's coloring book from their own pictures
matching gardening gloves and apron
fleece kid's hats
fleece kid's hat and matching scarf
tea towel apron with matching bread basket made out of same tea towels but I couldn't find a tutorial for it
or a half size apron
baby bath apron
baby hooded towel
picture gifts from snapfish
dryer balls
embroidered hand print
pillow case dresses
another pillow case dresses
one more pillow case dress
homemade hot pack (I just fold a pretty washcloth in half, sew the edges, fill with barley)
child's size dish towel apron this goes well with a gift basket of mini cooking tools
pillow case apron
no sew pillow case apron
home made cloth napkins or table runners (personalize them with embroidery)
sew a Christmas tree skirt but put pockets all the way around it for someone without a fireplace to hang stockings

kits for kids:
tackle box- filled with fishing gear
cooking basket- filled with mini cooking tools and tiny jiffy cake mixes and apron
sewing basket- filled with a few yards of matching fabric, threads, scissors and other sewing accessories
art basket- filled with art supplies
tool apron- found at Home Depot or Lowe's filled with a tiny hammer, tiny screw driver, mini measuring tape, and child sized work gloves

Check these great sites for craft ideas:
Skip to my Lou
Crafty Crow
Bella Dia

Tea Party Game

Awhile back my daughter and I hosted a mother-daughter tea party and we played a little mother-daughter game after our tea. At the time, I couldn't find the list I had prepared with the questions so I had to ask the questions off the top of my head. Meantime, I have found the list and wanted to share it here.

Here's how it worked. The game host asks each little girl a question (one at a time) and had the little girl whisper her answer in the game host's ear. Then, we asked the mom of that girl to answer the question and we told her if she was right or wrong. It was really fun and there were no winners or losers.

Question List:
What is your favorite chore to do around the house?
What is your favorite color?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
If you could spend the day alone with your mom what would you want to do?
Do you like to have your nails painted?
What is your favorite dress?
What is your favorite way to wear your hair?
What is your favorite thing to do around the house (free time)?
What do you love to help your mom do?
What is your favorite game to play?
What is your favorite song?
What is your favorite food?

Tea Series End

Hi! I'm back! Thanks for your patience with me while I took a much needed break! I'll be wrapping up my tea series today with this very longgggg post. Hope you have time to read it. =0)


Okay, first....just a few of the many tea accessories available to you. There are SO many out there that you can really have fun hunting for them and discovering different kinds. Many tea shops carry lots of different accessories.


Infuser mesh balls....these are used for loose leaf tea. You can use a large ball in a tea pot or a small ball in a tea cup for an individual serving. I also like my unusual tea ball pincher which makes scooping loose tea leaves simple and not so messy.






These are loose leaf tea strainers. They come in so many shapes and designs as well. They are used for when loose leaf tea has been steeped in a tea pot without a mesh ball or any other type of strainer. You rest the top piece on top of your tea cup and pour your tea through it. Then you move it over to the little bowl to catch any drips.















Here are some tea bag presses. They come in so many different shapes and designs but they are fun to have.

This is a really cool tea cup that comes from the China influence on tea. I got it at Cost Plus World Market. It has a built in strainer for your loose leaf teas.




















These are also called tea "presses" but they are pots made for brewing tea and sometimes used also as coffee presses. They are wonderful for a single tea service.














This little flower plate is a tea bag holder. Once you've steeped your tea bag you can remove it from your cup onto this cute little guy. I also enjoy collecting tiny china tea spoons. In some of the pictures you can see some tea napkins that I got from my sister who's sister in laws in Mexico hand embroidered. They have been making them for their church there as a fund raiser. My sister's husband preaches at their church for the mid week service and they run several ministries there. If you are interested in purchasing any of the napkins, I have a few leftover from her recent trip that I'm selling for her.


Then below are some pictures to fulfill a request to post my tea cup and tea pot collection. I like the idea because I'd like to record here for my daughter the "where" of each tea cup.

From the far left is a tea pot with a Thomas Kincaid painting on it from my husband, then a blue Christmas one from Poland, then a cream and pink lace pot, my yellow bunny pot, my stack of muffins coffee server, then my pale green with white polka dots, then my bowl of grapes tea pot, my white embossed tea pot, and then my pumpkin tea pot. All the others were from my mom.










Tea Cups: From the top right clockwise- Royal Albert rose bud cup from my mom (it's a match to the one in the next picture center), purple roses is Emilee's that I bought her on a trip having tea with a friend that I was there for her baby shower, Daddy's grandmother's tea cup from her collection (grandma A from Boston), a red floral print that I bought last summer at the cabin in a gift shop, a December cup my mom bought me for my birthday, a tiny floral print of my grandmother's (grandma S), a shamrock print cup that my mom got me for my Irish heritage, a pink and blue floral print that I got as a memento at a gift shop during a women's retreat.










Left to right- white embossed tea cup with scalloped saucer to match my white tea pot, pansy tea cup that was my grandmother's (grandma S), Royal Albert rose bud, blue and white from my mom's every day dishes when I was growing up, soft pink floral from my grandma S.












Emilee's bunny tea set

Two of five miniature tea cups that my Aunt Glennis made for me and my siblings when we were little. I have two that Emilee and Jon enjoy using for special tea or hot chocolate. They are so dainty and cute.











And I leave this tea series with a little tea bag history....




the tea bag believe it or not was an accidental invention and not only that but it was invented in the United States, not England and not China....No, the tea bag was invented right in the US as a way for people to try a "sample" of tea. These little "samples" of tea caught on so well that they became quite popular. The first tea bags were made from hand-sewn silk muslin bags and tea bag patents date back as early as 1903. First appearing commercially around 1904, tea bags were successfully marketed by tea and coffee shop merchant Thomas Sullivan of New York, who shipped his tea bags around the world. A machine was soon invented to replace the hand sewing of tea bags.


Thomas Lipton incorporated the Lipton Tea Company in 1915. Lipton Tea patented a novel four-sided tea bag in 1952 called the flo-thru tea bag.

Recipe for a Tea Cup Topiary

I wanted to post this simple tea topiary centerpiece craft that you can have put away and then just pull it out for a simple tea centerpiece that quickly sets the mood for tea at your table or coffee table.



Supplies:
1 old tea cup
1 in styrofoam ball
3-4 in styrofoam ball
moss
1 12 in dowel
fake rose buds or flowers
tacky glue
hot glue gun
green flower tape

Directions:

1. Brush the large styrofoam ball with tacky glue and glue the moss onto it.

2. Use tacky glue or hot glue to glue the tea cup to the saucer. (if using only tacky glue, let dry overnight)

3. Cut a small amount off of one side of the small ball so that it has a side with a flat surface. Glue the flat surface to the bottom of the tea cup.

4. Wrap the flower tape around the dowel to cover it.

5. Poke the flower heads into the moss covered ball covering it completely.

6. Stick the dowel into the small ball in the cup, using extra hot glue to secure it (if you have a very hot glue gun it will melt the styrofoam so either use a not so hot glue gun or use tacky glue and let dry over night). Try to get the stick as straight as possible.

7. Stick the flower covered ball on the top of the stick as straight as possible. Add glue to it to secure it if needed. (You can also do this step before sticking it into the cup but if you do it that way, you'll need to support the top heavy stick until all the glue is dried at the base of the cup.)

8. Once everything has completely dried for a full night, tie decorative ribbons around the stick at the base of the flower ball.

Some of my cakes

I thought it would be fun to post some of the cakes I've made through the years so that my kids can see them in this book someday. I've done a wedding cake but can't find the picture. I have a few others as well so I'll add them to this post when I find the pictures of them.


Carrot Cake ~ made from scratch....I'll post the recipe in another post. It's incredibly moist and fabulous! Cream cheese filling and frosting. Decorated Hawaiian style for one of Grandpa's birthdays.

Mocha Cake ~ used to make this all the time. Haven't made it in a long time. Makes me want to have it again. The frosting is a chocolate mocha whipped cream frosting with a chocolate mocha cake. I love square cakes....

Bug Cake ~ Ice cream cake with graham cracker crumbs, rocks, and bugs. The center is filled with oreo cookie crumbs.











Dirt Cake~ A layer of crumbled chocolate cake, topped with a layer of chocolate pudding and then another layer of crumbled chocolate cake. Despite looking like mud and dirt, this is a really yummy cake. It doesn't look as tall in the pictures but it actually was built up quite high.

Brunch Berry Cake~ Vanilla cake layered with fresh whipped cream frosting and lots of sliced berries and sliced kiwi. This is a very moist and refreshing cake! Great for summer time. =0) It has 3 layers of cake and two layers of filling. The filling is a vanilla mousse.

Good old Bob and Larry. Just had to put these on there! =0) I think one was vanilla cake and one was chocolate both frosted with homemade butter frosting.

Scrapbook Cake~ this thing was huge! It's two 9x13 cakes side by side! It's frosted in all whipped cream frosting with a white chocolate mousse filling. The decor was made with stickers that I laminated with clear contact paper. This cake was a huge hit and tasted great too. It was for a baby shower of over 50 people and we still had a little leftover.

Butterfly Cake~ Not really a cake but you get the idea. This was simple and great for a two year old birthday. The 2 candles are the antennae. It worked well for little toddlers to have their own cupcake. My daughter loved this cake.

Bird Nest Cake~ This cake was a hit because it tasted so good! I threw a shower with a baby bird nest theme. This was vanilla cake with a thick custard filling and toasted coconut on top to form the nest. I never knew toasted coconut tasted so good with cake until I made this. Those are 3 hard boiled eggs in the nest. The frosting on the cake is again whipped cream frosting....my favorite and just about all I use anymore. Looking back, I should have died the eggs light blue and then speckled them with brown paint.


Okay, I've also had fun making diaper cakes. No, you don't eat them. They are a stack of diapers made to look like a cake as a gift for a new mom to be. Here are a few pictures of ones that I've made. All you do is start with a round piece of cardboard or an actual cake making board and start rolling diapers around each other until you get the size of the cake you want. Use some sewing pins to help secure them and tie a ribbon around them to hold them. Stack your layers and decorate with little baby gifts like you would frosting. =0) Wrap with cellophane and tie with a bow.

Here is another diaper creation I made for a friend who was having twin boys and her baby shower theme was two peas in a pod. I made the baby pea heads with rolled diapers just like I did for the diaper cakes just smaller, covered them each with a cloth diaper and drew the faces on with a pen. I used two fleece matching blankets stuffed with diapers and overlapped and folded up to make a pod. I tied the ends of the pod with raffia. Then I dressed the little peas with hats, bibs, and stuck a binky where their mouths would be. Tucked a bottle next to each one and I was done.