12 New Things ~ Write Magazine Articles

Well.  This 12 new things stuff isn't as easy as I thought, but that's the point!  We're trying to work on new skills and grow in others.

My September skill was to write some magazine articles.  I've always thought about doing it and I already write a blog - so how hard could it really be???  ahem.  So apparently I'm not a gifted article writer that can whip out perfection in a couple of hours.

I started out the month with good intentions.  I decided I would try writing a few articles and that I would send some queries to magazines.  I brainstormed ideas to write about and picked a few.  I even jotted down notes for each.  Later in the month I looked through a guide I have to see which magazines I might be able to send queries to.  I had an idea for a series of articles and decided to try writing the first one.

I spent some time working on that article and then left it alone for a few days.  When I went back to look at it...well...it was bad.  Really bad.  So bad that I wouldn't even want to publish it on my own blog!  Now I know that writing has to be worked over a few times until it's right, but I was drawing a blank and I just didn't feel driven to fix it. I looked over my other ideas to see if I could write up something else and nothing really excited me.  I really felt like I just couldn't write a magazine article!

I think that I have gotten so used to writing in a more casual conversational style on my blog that it's difficult for me to write any other way.  Maybe I could have come up with a good article if I had the right idea and spent a good amount of time on it.  But you know what?  I have many things I would rather spend my time on or that I *need* to spend my time on!

I still would like to write a book someday, even if nobody ever read it but me.  But that's nothing I plan to do in the near future.  I definitely learned something from my experience - writing is HARD!  I know that all you writers out there are nodding your heads!  I have a tendency to not like doing hard things (either because I'm not convinced I'm capable or because of fear of failure or just because I'm lazy), but maybe I'll try again one of these days.  Besides, I have something new to attempt next month - jogging!

For September, I had also assigned myself a project to complete - create a Christmas binder.  I partially did it.  I have a binder - LOL!  And I did actually list out the 12 weeks until Christmas and assigned myself tasks for each week.  It just needs some prettying up and some blank forms.  I also assigned myself a book to read - Created To Be His Help Meet by Debi Pearl.  I finished it - woo hoo!  Great book with lots to mull over.

How about you?  Did you learn a new skill this month?  Did you have more success than I did?  There will be a link up for 12 New Things at Like a Warm Cup of Coffee soon (Sarah Mae has been super busy!).  So you have a little extra time to actually write up a post about your new skill or even come up with your 12 things now and post about it!  *Added: Her post is up now, so go check it out and link up your 12 New Things post!

Have you had articles published in magazines?  Does this make you want to give it a try or did I scare you?

Have a great day friends!

Wordless Wednesday: The Busiest Starbucks?

When I was in Florida recently, I saw something I had never seen!  Now I have been to many different Starbucks locations in a few different states (and yes, I'm a gold member), but these Florida Starbucks people must be *really* obsessed!  Do you see this Starbucks sign?

It's ACROSS the street from a Starbucks with a parking lot and a drive-thru!!  Wow.  That's it - I'm buying stock.  LOL!  Have you ever seen a sign like this?

For more Wordless Wednesday pics, be sure to stop by 5 Minutes For Mom!

Chocolate Friday ~ Chocolate Chat On Cocoa Powder

Chocolate Friday is here!!  That means you deserve a bit of chocolate at the end of a hard week!  That's right - I say you deserve it and don't let anybody tell you different!  :)  I don't actually have a recipe for you today, but I want to give you a little chocolate education instead!  I'd like to tell you a little about the difference between cocoa powders.  I only discovered the difference in the last few years, so maybe this info will be helpful to some of you.

When we think of cocoa powder, we think of basic unsweetened cocoa powder - the most common brand being Hershey.

But have you ever looked at a recipe that asked for Dutched cocoa powder or Dutch-process cocoa powder?  Did you know that it was something different or did you go ahead and use the regular cocoa powder?  There is actually a difference and it will make a difference in the flavor of your cooking!

Dutched cocoa powder has gone through an alkalizing process which gives it a darker color and makes it less acidic.  The result is a richer, more intense chocolate flavor and a nice deep chocolate color.  You will sometimes see Dutched cocoa powder called for in recipes for beverages or desserts that aren't baked since the flavor is less bitter than regular cocoa powder.

If you substitute one for the other, you might not notice a huge difference, but it will affect flavor and could affect how your dessert rises.  I personally stock both kinds in my cupboard and use exactly what the recipe calls for.  I have seen it suggested that you could use the Dutched cocoa exclusively, but the other fact to keep in mind is that the alkalization process removes antioxidants - more than half!  Plus your cocoa has gone through additional processing which might not be as healthy for you.

So - Dutched cocoa powder will have the better flavor and color, but regular cocoa powder is less processed and will give you a higher number of antioxidants.  Also, I find that Dutched cocoa powder is more expensive and harder to find in the grocery store.  But I will continue to use both!  Here's my Dutch cocoa powder:

The tricky thing is that it doesn't say Dutched anywhere on the front!  Check the ingredients on the back:

That is definitely only dutched cocoa powder.  You might want to check the back of your own cocoa powder!  The other alternative is to buy a brand that combines the two types.  Hershey's Special Dark cocoa powder is actually just a combination of regular and dutched cocoa powders (so don't spend your money on it if you already have both kinds in your cupboard!).  And remember - in this case - just because it says "Dark" doesn't mean it's healthier!  It's a darker color, but has less antioxidants.

Here are some recipes I have that use Dutched cocoa powder:
Chocolate Cinnamon Bread
Chocolate-Pecan-Cranberry Cake
Cocoa Crispy Bars
Iced Cappuccino Smoothie (from my old healthy blog)

Did you already know all of this or did I teach you something new today?  Was that too educational of a post for you or did you like it?  Did I make you think that I was a Professor of Chocolate?  LOL!!

Now it's your turn to bring on the chocolate!!  Write up a new chocolate post or find a delicious one in your archives and come back here to link it up below!  Chocolate!  Chocolate!  We love chocolate!!  Don't forget to stop back here later to check out the yummy links (did you check out the ones last Friday?).

Have a chocolatey day friends!!  Oh and I should remind you that since next Friday is the 1st Friday of the month, it will actually be Dessert Friday!  That means that chocolate is allowed but we can also bring the non-chocolate desserts so they don't feel left out!

The Good Spam ~ The Kind You Share With Friends :)

Every once in a while, I put together a few links to blog posts or articles and send them to a friend as she has similar tastes and enjoys having the links in one spot to check out in her spare time.  We jokingly refer to it as "spam" though they really are great links!

As I was sending her some "spam" today, it occurred to me that you might like to check out the same links!  So I'm sharing them with you today.  These are just posts/articles here and there that caught my eye - not all of the posts that I read and like.  Here you go...

My friend Teri Lynne at Pleasing To You always has thought-provoking posts and I could really relate to these two:
Make It Happen Monday: Stop Comparing
When We Disagree

Who doesn't love a great coupon?  Spotted this one at The Frugal Girls.  It's a Yankee Candle coupon good for $1 votives and tarts (through 9/26)!
Yankee Candle Coupon

Sweet Myra from My Blessed Life had a very cool tutorial on making your own hurricane vases:
Hurricane Vases! {Frugal DIY Tutorial}

A fantastically delicious-looking dessert from Ghiradelli (yum):
Milk Chocolate Truffle Cream Pie

The Fall Nesting Party at The Inspired Room - so many lovely Fall links to look at in all your spare time:
3rd Annual Fall Nesting Party

And I must remind you - tomorrow is Chocolate Friday!!  Prepare a chocolate post or find a good one in your archives and come link up!  The more chocolate, the merrier!  Or come by and leave a comment with your chocolate thoughts!  See you tomorrow!

Have a lovely evening friends!

In Honor Of Fall ~ THE Video On How To Make Pumpkin Spice Lattes

Today is the first official day of Fall!  I haven't even had a chance to do my decorating yet, but it will happen this week!  

For some Fall fun, my friend Kim posted our video on her blog a couple weeks ago about how to make Pumpkin Spice Lattes at home.  I let you all know about the video and some of you clicked over and saw it plus I posted it on Facebook.  I don't want to annoy you by telling you about the same thing over and over, BUT I thought I would post the video here for those of you who never got a chance to see it!

This is me and my friend Kim from Homesteader's Heart showing you as best we can how to make those yummy pumpkin spice lattes (yummm)!

If you would like the actual recipe so you can make them yourselves, just click on over to Kim's place!

Happy Fall my friends!!  Are you ready for it?

She Excels At Finding Shells...Not

When I was in Florida visiting Kim (you can read more of my adventures there on Kim's blog!), we went to the beach so I could collect some sea shells for my son.  Her sweet family helped me find some neat shells in the sand that my kiddo would enjoy - here are most of them...

So pretty!  Now, when I was by myself for a moment on the beach, I spotted another sort of shell in the sand.  It was mostly white and I thought it seemed like the same material as a sand dollar.  It also had a pretty pale blue on the inside.  I had not seen a "shell" like that before and was going to ask Kim or her family about it - but they were heading back already so I threw it in the bag with the other shells.  I never looked at the shells in the bag again and brought them home.

My son was in another room, excitedly looking through his bag of shells when I heard this...

Son:  Mom???
Me:  Yes? (expecting him to tell me how impressed he was at the collection of shells)
Son:  Why'd you bring me a bottle cap??

Go ahead.  Laugh it up.  Hey - at least I admitted it.  And I'll have you know that you are looking at an authentic Florida beach bottle cap!  I guarantee that Kim is STILL laughing at this moment.  :)

I hope you find a little laughter in your day my friends!

Chocolate Friday ~ Chocolate In Florida

It has been a long time, but Chocolate Friday is BACK!!  'Cause we need the chocolate, right??!  I hope you survived without Chocolate Friday all this time - LOL!

When I was in Florida hanging out with Kim from Homesteader's Heart, we did manage to have a bit of chocolate!

I showed you this cuteness that Kim welcomed me with - I should mention that those are Dove Bliss chocolates and yes I did eat some every day that I was there!  :)

 

One day we went out for a little shopping and I got to check out a neat little chocolate shop called Grimaldi  Candies.  They are only in Florida and are famous for something that I had never tried - Chocolate Covered Potato Chips.  Yes!!!

 

I can tell you that the combination of sweet and salty is quite good!  I did manage to bring home a container to share with my hubs and he agreed that they were yummy!  They even have a website where you can order yourself a 1 lb box of Chips 'N Chocolate if you don't want to be left out of the fun!

I think I can speak for Kim and Kathy and tell you that we think the chocolatey chips deserve a thumbs up - LOL!

The chocolate didn't end there my friends - oh no.  Kim made me her famous chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting!!  OK - she really didn't make it just for me, but I'm pretending it was in my honor.  :)  It was delicious!!  Normally, it looks like this...

Picture totally taken from Kim's cooking blog without her knowledge, but she loves me anyway.  :)

I will tell you (because Kim won't!) that her cake did not turn out perfect!!  The frosting had a bit of an appearance issue (and I am kicking myself for not taking a pic of that), but was still absolutely fabulous!  So now you know that Kim is NOT perfect.  Somebody had to let you in on that secret.  (Hey, I had to have some company in the imperfect club.)  :)  Hee,hee!!  Love you Kim!!!  You can go get her delicious recipe for Chocolate Cake With Peanut Butter Frosting and try it out yourself!

I've shared lots of chocolate with you - now it's your turn!  Write up a chocolatey post or find one in your archives (all rated G of course!) and bring it back here to link up to the thumbnail linky below.  The more chocolate we get here, the better our weekend will be - LOL!  No blog?  Leave your chocolatey thoughts or fave recipes or links in the comments.

Have a chocolatey day my friends!  Now...link, comment, link, comment, link...oh and have a little chocolate.  :)

Florida Trip ~ Creatures On The Beach

Yesterday I showed you the relaxing Florida beach near my friend Kim's (Homesteader's Heart) house.  Today I thought I would show you all the creatures I saw there!

Sand crab - somewhere down in his hole!

 

Sand crab - about the middle of the screen looking at you with his little beady eyes!

 

Sea turtle - in the nest.

 

Awww...cute - it's a sand flea.

 

Underside of a sand flea.  Wait...sand flea??  Blech, but thanks to Kim's husband for showing me!

 

Jelly Fish!

Homesteaders.  AKA Homesteader's Heart family!

 

Me.

Some scary creatures there - LOL!!

I want to remind you that tomorrow (Friday 9/17) is Chocolate Friday - Woo Hoo!  I'll share a little something chocolatey and you can too!  Bring your chocolate post by to link up and/or share your chocolate thoughts in the comments!  See you then!

Have a wonderful day my friends!

Wordless Wednesday: Relax On The Florida Beach

Normally I would tell you to stop and smell the chocolates, but today I want you to stop, take a deep breath and smell the beach!  This is the Florida beach that's just a short walk from my friend Kim's (Homesteader's Heart) house!  I was just there last week!  Lovely and relaxing.  Enjoy...

That is all.  Relaxed?  Me too.  More beachy fun tomorrow...

Enjoy more pics for Wordless Wednesday at 5 Minutes For Mom!  Have a relaxing day my friends!

The Coffee's Always Better On The Other Side

So I mentioned that I went to visit my friend Kim from Homesteader's Heart last week.  That involved traveling from one side of the country to the other - exciting!

I must say - she took me to some very exciting Florida destinations right off the bat!  Here's one:

But that's not all - she took me here too:

Apparently all the Florida coffee shops are called "Arbucks Coffee."  ;)

What could be better?  How about Starbucks on the beach??

Who would write such a thing in the sand?  Probably some California chick...

Not realizing that I was actually a latte drinker rather than a *coffee* drinker, coffee-loving Kim provided me with an adorable coffee mug and a bag of Starbucks coffee (along with sugar and half 'n half, of course!) to use during my stay.  

Actually, she got me Vanilla Starbucks coffee, but it's gone, baby gone (I prefer the vanilla flavor to the caramel as the caramel is a little too bold for me).

Wanting to be just like Kim, I got *brave* and brewed myself coffee!  I discovered that I don't need as much sugar and half 'n half as I expected (though it's still a lot) so I'll be drinking the coffee from now on - with occasional lattes.  :)

And speaking of having coffee with Kim, did you see our video yet?  We show you - in between laughter - how to make your own pumpkin spice lattes and they're yummy!  Go check it out if you haven't!

Disclosurish stuff:  Hard to believe, but Starbucks did not sponsor this post!  This is all on my own.  And no, I am not obsessed.  Really!  However, I am a Starbucks gold member.  I've even got a coupon for a free Starbucks drink (that I earned myself) in my purse - and I'm not afraid to use it.

More Florida adventures tomorrow...

Have a fabulous day friends!

Welcome to Florida

It was very exciting to head to Florida to visit my friend Kim from Homesteader's Heart!  After she and Kathy from Blessed Beyond Imagination picked me up at the airport, I headed back to Kim's house.  I got to stay in the cute little cottage in her back yard!

Look what greeted me there!

So cute!  And those are Dove bliss chocolates - does she know me or what??!  And I should mention that there were also mints on my pillows, which may or may not have been because I was asking her on e-mail if the cottage had turndown service - LOL!  :)

Looks like I'll be comfortable and happy here during my stay:

At least that's what I thought before I knew what kind of food and drink Kim provides for guests...

Um, thanks for the water and pickles.  You shouldn't have, Kim.  Really.

More adventures tomorrow...

Have a lovely day friends!

Gone Filming

I was actually gone this past week (tricked ya, didn't I?), visiting my sweet & funny friend Kim from Homesteader's Heart (thanks to some free airline miles)!!!  We had a great time and I'll post more about it next week!

Kim and I like to say that I just flew in there for filming.  What did we film?  We made a video on how to make pumpkin spice lattes at home!  Soooo yummy!!  You really must head over to Homesteader's Heart and watch the video (and get the recipe) - there's plenty of laughter!

Have a fabulous Friday evening and a great weekend friends!

Making Treats With Your Kids ~ Granola Bites

Apparently I scared you all a little with my serious post yesterday - LOL!  If you've been a follower of my blog for a while, then you know that I like to throw a serious post in once in a while to shake things up!  I stand by my post, but I am sorry if it caught you off guard.  How about I go ahead and reward you with a little yumminess today?

A few months ago, Jessica from Muthering Heights asked me to guest post about kids helping in the kitchen.  I had a fun time having my son help me with this recipe and am glad I can share it with you today.  Enjoy!

Originally published at Muthering Heights on February 24, 2010:

I think it's obvious that I like chocolate.  I do like to make chocolate desserts (mainly because I like to eat desserts), but I don't always remember to involve my son in the fun.  It's a great experience to let your kids spend quality time with you in the kitchen!  I recently found a recipe in my No Bake Holiday Recipes cookbook that's very kid-friendly since it doesn't involve the oven or even the stove!  Just some measuring, mixing, and general mess-making by rolling cookies in your hands!!

Have your kids help with the measuring - good for practicing math concepts!

Stir it all up (kids LOVE to stir - LOL) and don't worry about a few spills - they clean up easily.

Roll the mixture into small balls and put on wax paper.  It's the messy part - fun for most kids, unless you're my son who is sort of a neat freak.  :)

That's all there is to it!  We did chill ours in the refrigerator to help them firm up.  Eat and enjoy!

This recipe is nice for kids of all ages.  Little ones can help make them and eat them for an after-school snack or dessert.  Older kids can make them all on their own and share with friends who come over.

Granola Bites

1 cup powdered sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter (if you use all-natural it doesn't stick together very well)
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups oats
1 cup granola cereal (I used my homemade Super Light Granola)
1 3/4 cups (11-oz pkg) peanut butter and milk chocolate chips (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips; mini chips would be good)

Line two baking sheets with waxed paper.  In a large bowl, combine powdered sugar, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla; mix well.  Stir in the oats, cereal, and chips.  Mix until the cereal is evenly coated.  Roll the mixture into 1-inch balls and place on the prepared baking sheets.  Let stand until firm.  Store in an airtight container.

I hope you get a chance to try this out!  Do you have a favorite recipe that you make with your kids?