RECOMMENDATION
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| YAKTRAX |
Yaktrax, have you heard of them? I swear by them
when walking on ice and snow. This handy little device is made with steel coils,
and easy to use polyelastomer material making it easy to slip onto any shoe or
boot. I’m here to tell you, they’re great for walking with more confidence on
the ice and snow. I picked up a pair of
Yaktrax, 2 years ago, and finally wore them out. Today, I drove into town to go to our local sporting
goods store, and bought myself another pair.
For under $20.00, I can walk to my truck with the traction, or anywhere,
and not have fear of falling down.
Please check out Yaktrax website here for several available
options.
*****
With our left over ham pieces and bone, I made Navy
Bean Soup. This was dinner tonight. In a
pot of water, I threw my left over ham bone, small ham pieces, 2 carrots
chopped, 1 celery stalk chopped, ½ chopped onion, ¼ cup of chopped parsley, 1
teaspoon of thyme, 2 bay leafs, salt and pepper to taste, and 3 to 4 cans of
navy beans (rinsed). Most people would
use cream as a broth, I prefer a clear broth.
*****
Because I use a lot of vanilla extract throughout
the year, I’ve decided to attempt to create my own. The process seems pretty easy. The items required to make vanilla extract:
1 bottle of vodka (you
can use vodka, rum, brandy or bourbon)
Several
fresh vanilla beans
Several
clean bottles with caps |
| Split bean down middle |
Split the vanilla bean down the middle, scraping
briefly, place the entire bean in a clean bottle with any particles from the bean,
fill the bottle with vodka (not all the way to the top).
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| Place split bean in bottle |
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| Add vodka |
Seal the lid, let the bean steep, shake
briefly daily, and place the bottle in a dark, cool, cabinet. After
a 3 month period, you have fresh vanilla extract. This extract can be used for baking, or given
as a gift.
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| Seal lid, shake briefly, place in dark cool cabinet |
*****
After standing by the stove and oven while I cooked
our Christmas dinner, both of our dogs got tired of waiting for me to give them
a little treat.
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| This is Bug, she got tired of waiting (she thinks you can't see her) |
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| This is Beans, he got tired of waiting for a treat |
Are your family pets as spoiled as mine?
