Apricot-Infused Vodka and Vodka-Infused Apricots

Last week I shared photos of the Blackberry Vodka I made for New Year's Eve.  Today, the Apricot Vodka I gave as Christmas gifts.  If you've never made fruit-infused vodka, you'll be surprised how simple it is to do.  Besides the Blackberry, I've shared two different homemade fruit vodkas on the blog - Nectarine Vodka and Limoncello.  I highly recommend both.  To make the Apricot Vodka, I started by putting dried apricots and vodka in a glass jar.  I put the jar in a cupboard and pulled it out a week later.  You can see the difference in color between Day 1 (left) and Day 8 (right).

I put a colander over a bowl to separate the apricots from the vodka.  I set the apricots aside, put a coffee filter in a funnel and poured the vodka into bottles.

I dressed up the bottles to give as gifts.  

 

 

The once-dried apricots had become plump and hydrated after a week in vodka.  I put them on parchment paper to dry overnight, then dipped them in chocolate.  

Delicious! 

Homemade Lip Balm

Years ago, a friend gave me a kit to make lip balm.  I'd set it aside at the time, waiting for an occasion to make it.  After seeing how much Trevor enjoyed making soap to give as gifts last year, I thought he'd like making lip balm to give as gifts this year.  I was right.

 

It was quite simple to make.  Measure out beeswax and sunflower oil, melt, add flavoring and/or color, and use a pipette to transfer the mixture into tubes or tubs.

 

Trevor did all the measuring and picked the flavors for each batch.  I stirred the molten wax and handled the pipettes.

 

Trevor carefully wrote out labels for each flavor.

 

Then he attached the labels. 

 

This was such a fun gift to make and give!  

Iron Chef, deRosier Style

I love throwing dinner parties. I don't host dinner parties nearly as often as I used to, but I still manage to have at least a few a year. It's pretty much a guarantee I'll host a dinner party on New Year's Eve. The most awesome, incredible, over-the-top dinner party I've ever hosted was on Dec 31, 1999, when I made a six-course formal meal for twelve with each course paired with a wine. (You can read about it here.) Last year, I hosted a "New" Year's Eve dinner, where all the foods I served had the word new in them. It was great fun.

When I thought about what I wanted to do for New Year's Eve dinner this year, I tossed around a few ideas before deciding on an Iron Chef - inspired battle. I would pick one secret ingredient and challenge myself to prepare five courses that featured that ingredient. Because we do not have a Kitchen Stadium in our house, I would be the only chef. Because I am not insane or a masochist, I would have more than an hour to cook. 

The secret ingredient.... potato! Allez cuisine!

For the appetizer course, I served Crispy Mashed Potato Balls with a Bacon and Chive Dip. I started with cold mashed potatoes (prepared ahead of time and refrigerated), added cheddar cheese, formed them into balls, rolled them in crushed potato chips, and baked them in the oven until they were piping hot and crispy. The dip is sour cream, bacon, and chives. 

I called the second course Potato Salad, though it was quite different from what people expect when they think of potato salad. I baked a potato, cubed it, then soaked the cubes in ranch dressing and added them to a salad of mixed greens, cheese, avocado and bacon.    

 

Next up, Potato Bread. I used this recipe.

I served the bread alongside Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes.

 

The dessert course consisted of three items. The first was a vanilla ice cream with crushed potato chips. The second was Mashed Potato Candy.

 

The final component, served to the adults only, was Blackberry Vodka. (Vodka is a potato product, so it totally fits the theme!) I made it by soaking blackberries in vodka for a week, straining out the fruit, then adding a simple syrup. 

I'm happy to report that all the courses were a success. Everyone had very nice things to say about all the courses, even the more unusual ones. My friends have always been great sports about trying the crazy stuff I make and are not shy about telling me when something isn't very good, so I know that they enjoyed Battle Potato as much as I did. Here's the whole group of us, about ten minutes before midnight.  

 

Another wonderful New Year's Eve! I can't wait until next year.

One Little Word - 2014

This is my fourth year participating in Ali Edwards' One Little Word.  In 2011, I chose the word Balance.  In 2012, I chose the word Celebrate.  Last year was Try.  Each One Little Word experience has been very positive for me.

I've been thinking about my 2014 word for months.  Every time a word jumped out at me, I wrote it on a scrap of paper.  When I gathered up my scraps last week and looked through them, it was clear that there were two words that were fighting for my attention in 2014.  After careful consideration, I chose Enjoy.

I have always been someone who has saved for a rainy day, both literally and figuratively.  While I won't be changing that, I will make an effort to do things I enjoy now instead of waiting for 'some day.' I will actively make time for the things that I like to do.  I will go out of my way to schedule time with the people I care about.  I will look at the activities that fill my days and look for opportunities to eliminate the things I don't like doing and replace them with things I truly enjoy.  I will use my favorite art supplies without any consideration for whether the project is special enough.

I decided to go with a muted yellow for my Enjoy tag.  Here it is with the other tags.  I like how they look together.

 

Have you chosen One Little Word for 2014?  I'd love to hear what it is! 

2014 Resolutions

Happy New Year!

Source

Every year I pick some crafty and/or creative resolutions for myself, which means it's time to look back and see how I did. In 2013, I resolved to:

*Complete an average of one scrapbook layout a week.

Check! I made 55 12x12 layouts. I feel good about that number.

*Handmake at least 95% of the cards our family sends.

Check! With the exception of our photo Christmas cards, I didn't purchase any cards all year.

*Submit at least twelve projects for publication in print magazines.

Nope. I did submit a few projects to print magazines early in the year, but none were published. As magazines folded left and right, I didn't put effort into submitting later in the year. Instead, I focused on having my kids' crafts and articles published.

*Double my blog readership.

Check! My average daily readership is almost exactly double what it was this time last year. 

 

*Teach at least one craft or scrapbook-related class or workshop.

Check!  Back in March, I taught a Scrapbook 101 class as part of my 40 Things. It was a lot of fun. I'd definitely like to teach another class or workshop.

*Earn money through scrapbooking or crafting.

Check!  I've been working as the Editorial Assistant at Fun Family Crafts for just over a year now. I've been a Contributing Writer with Scrapjazz for two years; since August, the articles have been published at Scrapbook.com. I started a new job writing product descriptions for Scrapbook.com in August.

.....
   
Here are my craft-related resolutions for 2014.

*Double my blog readership.
*Seek out opportunities that will allow me to qualify for CHA membership.
*Earn money through scrapbooking or crafting.
*Complete an average of one scrapbook layout a week.
*Improve my photography skills through classes, challenges, etc.


Did you make any scrappy or creative New Year's resolutions?