Fabulous Fall Finds

{Thursday's By Tara} - A Thursday ritual. A featured post written by Tara; simple, special, extraordinary moments in soaping and life.

Would you like to WIN a Handmade Spy Bag?

Giggle Junction has very generously offered a “FREE” Spy bag

to one of our awesome readers.

To enter the giveaway please leave a comment below telling me which is your favorite bag or who you have in mind to give one to.

I will randomly pick a winner at the end of the month.

Be sure to include your email in the comment so we can contact you if

you are the lucky winner!

Also, if you visit Giggle Junction on Etsy and decide to make a purchase they will put your child’s name on the bag for free (a $5.00 value)!

Just mention our blog and be sure to include your child’s name

in the ‘message to sender’ section.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Would you like to WIN a Handmade Spy Bag?

Giggle Junction has very generously offered a “FREE” Spy bag

to one of our awesome readers.

To enter the giveaway please leave a comment below telling me which is your favorite bag or who you have in mind to give one to.

I will randomly pick a winner at the end of the month.

Be sure to include your email in the comment so we can contact you if

you are the lucky winner!

Also, if you visit Giggle Junction on Etsy and decide to make a purchase they will put your child’s name on the bag for free (a $5.00 value)!

Just mention our blog and be sure to include your child’s name

in the ‘message to sender’ section.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pretzel Bites

{Thursday's By Tara} - A Thursday ritual. A featured post written by Tara; simple, special, extraordinary moments in soaping and life.

Homemade Soft Pretzel Bites

We had a very rainy Sunday in our little corner of Florida this weekend. The kids were cooped up inside and we were all going a little crazy. We decided to try and make one of our favorite "treats" from the mall, Pretzel bites. I looked up a few recipes and mixed them all up to create this one. It would have been easier if we had had a loaf of frozen bread dough, but since we didn't and we live 45 min. from the grocery, we just started from scratch. I hope you enjoy!

DIY Soft Pretzel Bites Recipe

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 package active dry yeast

3 ounces unsalted butter, melted

2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

4 1/2 to 5 cups all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil

3 quarts water

3/4 cup baking soda

1 whole egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon cold water

Coarse sea salt

For the cheese sauce:

½ Tablespoon unsalted butter

½ Tablespoon all-purpose flour

½ cup milk

8 ounces Cheddar cheese, grated

Directions:

For the Pretzels: Combine the water, sugar, yeast,

and butter in the bowl of a stand mixer

and mix with the dough hook until combined.

Let sit for 5 minutes.

Add the salt and flour and mix on low speed until combined. Increase the speed to medium and continue kneading until the dough is smooth and begins to pull away from the side of the bowl, about 3 to 4 minutes. If the dough appears too wet, add additional flour, 1 tablespoon at a time. Remove the dough from the bowl, place on a flat surface and knead into a ball with your hands.

Oil a bowl with vegetable oil, add the dough and turn to coat with the oil. Cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap and place in a warm spot until the dough doubles in size, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Bring the water to a boil in a small roasting pan over high heat and add the baking soda.

Remove the dough from the bowl and place on a flat surface. Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces, about 4 1/4 to 4 1/2 ounces each. Roll each piece into a long rope measuring 22 inches and shape. Cut the dough into one inch pieces to make the pretzel bites. Boil the pretzel bites in the water solution in batches. We did about 15 bites at a time. Boil for about 30 seconds. Remove with a large slotted spoon. Place pretzel bites on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Make sure they are not touching. Brush the tops with the egg wash and season liberally with the salt. Place into the oven and bake for 15 to 18 minutes until golden brown.

Remove to a baking rack and let rest 5 minutes before eating.

*If you want to make cinnamon and sugar pretzel bites-instead of adding salt, sprinkle the bites with cinnamon and sugar. For the frosting mix-soft cream cheese-about 3 T, powdered sugar, a teaspoon of vanilla extract, and a little bit of milk. Whisk together. Add more milk if it is too thick, if it is too thin, add more powdered sugar. I don't measure. I just guess until the consistency is right.*

Recipe makes a lot of bites-perfect for sharing!

Goodbye Summer

{Thursday's By Tara} - A Thursday ritual. A featured post written by Tara; simple, special, extraordinary moments in soaping and life.

We tried our hardest to embrace summer to the fullest

and we sent out our summer vacation this year

with a short trip to the beach.

Our destination: Marco Island, FL

 Our mission: To soak up every last ray of sun and to feel the salt on our skin one last time before we got back to the routine and schedule that is the school year.

The results: Well, you’ll just have to take a look and see!

Summertime Fun

{Thursday's By Tara} - A Thursday ritual. A featured post written by Tara; simple, special, extraordinary moments in soaping and life.

I wanted to share with you a sampling of some of the fun we had this summer.

My hubby spent a whole week at Cub Scout camp with 3 of our boys.

They learned pocket knife and bb gun safety, practiced archery,

and even got to watch a real jousting tournament!

We started out our summer by going to our local Memorial Day parade.

We started this family tradition a few years ago and it's a very special

and meaningful day for our whole family.

My two oldest boys attempted to climb the Alpine ropes tower at our local YMCA.

It was a little scary, though!

We had a blast celebrating my oldest son's 9th birthday with a fishing party!

Off to the mountains

{Thursday's By Tara} - A Thursday ritual. A featured post written by Tara; simple, special, extraordinary moments in soaping and life.

Heading to the mountains!

Every year we take a family road trip to the mountains of North Carolina.  We spend our days hiking, playing games, visiting waterfalls, picking fruit at local orchards, and finding any kind of junk or antique shop we can!

Last year we added North Georgia to our trip and spent 10 days in a cabin that sits right on the Ocoee River.  My boys spent the days tubing and playing in the very chilly water, but they had the time of their lives.  We are headed up again next week and can’t wait!  I’ll be taking lots of pictures so I can share a little of our adventures with you when I get back.

Where are you headed this summer?

Natural Sun Burn Mask Recipe

{Thursday's By Tara} - A Thursday ritual. A featured post written by Tara; simple, special, extraordinary moments in soaping and life.

Sunshine and Summertime!

These two words bring to mind running through sprinklers in the yard, flying down a wet slip-n-slide, lazy days at the beach, and picnics with family and friends on The 4th of July.  My fondest memories growing up a Florida kid is of spending the long summer days in the yard with my cousins and because of the intense heat Florida provides, it ALWAYS involved water play.  It seems like more times than not I ended up with a pink nose and shoulders after spending too much time in the sun.  Sunscreen would have probably been a good idea, but I have learned from my time as a mom of 4 little boys, that it was probably nearly impossible for my mom to get me to slow down for 5 minutes to apply another coat.

So, I wanted to share with you a quick and easy mask you can whip up to soothe those sunburns and a few photos of my boys.

After spending time in the sun, and if your skin gets a little sunburned, a quick, no-cost and easy to make face pack will calm, soothe and help to improve appearance. You will look and feel softer and more even toned. This recipe is also great for acne prone skin.

Sunburned Mask:

Ingredients:

1 small potato, about 2-3 teaspoon of flour, a few drops of water as needed.

How to prepare:

Just take a grated peeled white potato and mix with enough white flour to make a consistency similar to pancake batter. Spread all over your face and wherever that needs a little soothing. Leave on for about 20-30 minutes and rinse off in cool water.

How to use:

Spread all over your face and wherever that needs a little soothing. Leave on for about 20-30 minutes and rinse off in cool water.

Results:

I use this often when my skin gets dry, dull or has been in the sun. My skin gets very soft and even toned.

I hope you enjoy your time spent outside in the beautiful sunshine this summer!