A New goal for my Blog

I have new goal for this Blog!

This summer I am beginning a new hobby! In fact, THIS Thursday June 5, 2014 I'm purchasing my first Lodge Dutch Oven!  This is something I've been wanting to do for a while now, and the plan is to get some great dutch oven experience for when my Hubby and I purchase our tent trailer and start doing some summer traveling.

So, my Blog will now contain tips, tricks and recipes for Dutch Oven cooking.  I hope you'll stick around for some delicious fun and I also hope you will contribute your own tips, tricks and a recipe or two if you have any!

I'm REALLY excited to get started! Are you ready?  Let's cook together!

Posting issues

I haven't posted in ages. I'm having issues posting through Safari so I'm trying firefox and it looks like I'm able to post.  Anyone else have these issues? I'll keep you posted on my issue and if I find a solution. Just know I'm still around!

Exciting news!

Wow! I'm so thrilled... I submitted three photos to IDG, organizers of Macworld/iWorld. I got an email early last week telling me one of them was picked to be on display at the Conference in January 2013!

Homemade Caramels

I thought I'd start sharing some of the recipes I love to make, starting with this easy recipe for homemade caramels!


1/4 C BUTTER (not margarine)
1/2C white sugar
1/2C Brown Sugar
1/2C Light Karo Syrup
1/2C Sweetened Condensed Milk

Combine all into either a glass bowl (if you're making this in a microwave)
OR a small pan (if you're this on the stove top)

Cook for 6 minutes, (microwave- stir every two minutes) (stovetop stir constantly)

Pour into lightly greased square pan, and cool completely. (I put mine outside on a cold day,
then finished cooling it in the fridge)

Cut into squares and wrap in WAXED PAPER.
These caramels are much softer than the store bought, so I keep mine stored in the fridge.

Next time I make them I'll coat in chocolate and sprinkle coarse sea salt on top!

My Review of Velcro Silencer

Originally submitted at Timbuk2

Velcro strips that attach to Timbuk2 bags for quiet time.

Velcro Silencer

GREAT ADDITION

By OregonGma from Bend, OR on 10/18/2012

 

5out of 5

Pros: High Quality

Best Uses: Running Errands, Traveling, Daily Use, School, Office

Describe Yourself: Classic, Comfort-Oriented, Practical

Primary use: Personal

Was this a gift?: No

The velcro silencing straps have truly been a God send. I LOVE my Timbuk2 bag, even with that "Riiiiiping" sound when I open it. But in some instances it's just not appropriate: in the middle of Church service...during the quietest part of a movie...you know, those odd times when you really DO need something out of your bag. I use mine on a daily basis, instead of a "purse" so I'm ALWAYS getting into my Timbuk2 bag.
These silencers are GREAT! When I order my next bag, I'll be sure to order these great little straps!

Silencer Strap, works GREAT!

Tags: Using Product

(legalese)

Crayon Art

We had seen this on Pinterest in several posts, and my daughters and I made some this weekend while our Hubby's were all away at men's camp. It's super easy, much easier than we thought and much easier than most of the "instructions" on Pinterest!

So, here are OUR instructions for a Crayola Crayon Canvas art!

The above canvas is an 8 X 10. I bought a pack of 10 canvas's at Michaels for $19.99
You can use ANY size, but note that the "melt area" will be smaller on a large canvas.

I purchased three boxes of these crayons for our project. One box of 24 will fit, IF you want to use ALL the colors which will include gray, brown and black. SO.... I would really suggest a box of 48 crayons so you can choose which colors you want. My canvas has a rainbow, and I believe I put 22-23 crayons across the 8 inch width, so the canvas is sitting in a portrait position.

Here you can see that I'm glueing the crayons onto the canvas using a hot glue gun. If you want the brand to show in the front...pay attention to where you're putting the hot glue!

Here's where the fun starts!  We let our canvas sit in the sun for about 10 minutes, but I don't think that is really necessary. I would strongly suggest that you use a "HEAT GUN" for crafting. I've read on several blogs that the person has a problem with "splatter" when they start the melting process. I really think that's because a hair dryer is more powerful (even on the "low" setting) and that's why it splatters. We used the crafting heat gun and had NO problems at all with splatter. It starting melting right away! (one blog said it took over 50 minutes for the melting process) Ours took maybe 15 minutes total.  Place newspaper under the canvas, because it WILL (with any size canvas I think) melt all the way down the front. Like I said, the larger the canvas, the smaller the melt area will look.

  And here's the finished project!  How cool is that???? You can give the canvas a layered look by melting and cooling, and melting again. FUN!!!

How can summer be over already...it just started!

Wow, it's been a busy summer for the family! That family reunion I spoke of?  What a trip...full of fun and family! A trip to Disneyland which was a first for the grandkids and one of the son-in-laws. It was a walk down memory lane also, going to many places we used to frequent in years past.
Now we're home and getting ready for a new school year. (Both my Hubby and I work for the local School District)
I'm sure I've mentioned that I'm addicted to Instagram...I am the "community ManIGer" for "Central Oregon Instagramers which is @igerscentraloregon on the feed. I had an Instameet in July, which had no attendance.  I was a bit bummed, but there was SO much going on in town that day I got over it.
I've planned a 2nd one for October 27th and I have several "raffle" prizes to entice people to come. Wish me luck! I'm going to have an Instameet every 3 months. I will be posting photos that I take on my photo blog so be sure to take a look!
Well, that's it for now, and I Promise to be better about posting. Someday I might even have a nice sized following!