27
CRANBERRY TEA
This is a wonderfully spicy potion. The recipe makes enough for a crowd. You can make it with decaf bags if you want to avoid the kick.
4 cups water
4 cups cranberry juice
4 orange pekoe tea bags
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
16 cloves
1 apple, cored, seeded, and cut into 8 slices
Bring water and juice to a boil over medium heat. Place the tea bags in the mixture, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep 10 minutes. Remove the bags. Add the cinnamon. Place 2 cloves in each apple slice and add to tea. Let steep 5 minutes. Pour into mugs, making sure each cup gets 1 apple slice. Serves 8.
FEBRUARY 28
HOMEMADE FIRE STARTERS
Here’s a great gift for anyone with a fireplace or woodstove.
1 block paraffin
food dye
pine or cedar essential oil
several medium or large pinecones
old tongs
waxed paper
Melt the paraffin in the top of a double boiler. Add dye of your choice to color the wax and a few drops of pine or cedar essential oil to scent. Stir with an old wooden spoon. Using tongs, dip pinecones in wax to cover, and then set on waxed paper to harden.
MARCH 1
ALL-PURPOSE ROOM SPRAY
When the house feels musty and stale, try this aromatherapy spray to freshen things up a bit. The authors of Seasons of Aromatherapy also recommend adding a few drops to your laundry to freshen up the clean clothes.
4 drops lavender essential oil
2 drops peppermint essential oil
2 drops tea tree essential oil
2 cups water
Combine all ingredients in a spray bottle. Spray your rooms.
MARCH 2
COAXING SPRING
When you’ve got the winter blahs, one of the easiest cures is to anticipate spring by forcing branches to bring a bit of color indoors. Any of a wide variety of bushes, shrubs, and trees will do, including forsythia, crab apple, pussy willows, quince, cherry, plum, pear, dogwood, privet, red maple, gooseberry, weeping willow, and witch hazel. Simply cut the edges of the branches on a slant with sharp scissors and plunge immediately into a vase of warm water. As the days pass, make sure to keep the vases filled with plenty of clean, tepid, and the warmth of the house will do the rest of the work. Voilà—instant spring!
MARCH 3
MAKE A PLAY DATE
My friend Daphne and I love to play dress up. We go shopping just for fun and often don’t buy a thing. We just spend a few hours trying on clothes and seeing how we look in them. Ballgowns are particularly enjoyable; just the other day we found the perfect thing for Daphne to wear to the Academy Awards if she were ever invited. She looked just like Marilyn Monroe at J. F. K.’s birthday party. How do you like to play? Do you like mountain biking? Wind surfing? Going to a spa and having a facial? Do something you think of as play today.
MARCH 4
EXOTIC POTPOURRI
If you’re in the mood to give your living room an exotic scent, using the following potpourri is a wonderful way to do just that. This recipe makes a lot, but it is very long lasting and makes a great gift.
1 cup orris root
2 teaspoons rose oil
4 cups dried rose petals
4 cups vetiver root or vetivert
3 cups patchouli leaves
1 cup sandalwood
2 cups mace
Using a wooden spoon, combine the orris root and rose oil in a large nonmetallic bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and pack into boxes or jars. Let set for 4 weeks, shaking occasionally. Makes 14 cups.
MARCH 5
FAMILY HOME EVENING
At one point I grew tired of running all over with all the kids every day—to soccer practice, games, piano lessons, tennis, play dates with friends… the list went on and on. I was exhausted, and the kids seemed cranky; there was never any downtime. It seemed as if we never had an evening to spend together as a family. Then I read about the tradition that Mormons have of a weekly “family home evening” and decided that was just what our family needed. And so I decreed Wednesdays as our home evening. After dinner, all of us spend the evening together with the TV off and with no outsiders, meetings, classes, or other commitments. Sometimes we play cards or a board game, read a story aloud, or tell ghost stories; other times we bake cookies together or just read in the same room. The kids protested at first, but now they too have gotten into the spirit.
MARCH 6
THE PARTY FAN
Creatively folded napkins add to the beauty of any place setting. Here’s a folding method that takes no time at all. If you don’t have napkin rings, use a bit of ribbon or raffia as a tie. First, fold the napkin in half to form a horizontal rectangle. Fold the rectangle into 1-inch accordion pleats, and put on the ring or ribbon. Then spread out the pleats at the top and bottom to create a fan.
MARCH 7
HOMEMADE STICKERS
If you have kids under the age of twelve, chances are they love stickers. And stickers can be mighty expensive. But you can make your own by turning any picture you want into a sticker. Collect appropriate images. Then, in a small cup, mix 2 parts white glue and 1 part vinegar. Use a small paintbrush to brush the mixture on the back of the picture. Let dry 1 hour, then cut, lick, and stick. The advantage to homemade stickers is that kids will have a ball making them!
MARCH 8
CANDLE-MAKING SUPPLIES
Most hobby and craft stores carry everything you need to make candles of all sorts. But if you have trouble finding what you need, contact Barker Enterprises in Seattle at (206-244-1870). They have all kinds of supplies, including more than 650 candle molds. Other good sources are CandlechemCo. in Massachusetts
