Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Count Down To Christmas-10 Gifts and ONLY 12 Days To Shop!

December 13, 2012 by pbenjay

Now that there’s less than two weeks to Christmas, I hope it’s safe to assume that your home is decorated for the holiday!  With only 12 days to go, you still have time to shop, make and find the PERFECT GIFT for your husband, child, best friend, sister, boyfriend, teenager, grandparents, mom and dad. This is my blog and if you’ve been reading it, you must know there’s going to be NO MALL shopping here!!   When you want to find a special and interesting unique kind of present, look to the Museum’s gift shop.  Of course we are lucky here in New York City because we have so many museums to go to and many are within walking distance to one another. BUT you can order online and have items shipped to you AND of course your own local museum might just the treasure trove  you’re looking for.

1.I love this one! Have you ever sat on the subway or a bus and seen two teens sitting next to one another, each with one ear plug listening to one iPod.  This is the answer.  A Branch Earphone Splitter.  You can plug in 4 sets of earphones.  Available at MOMA Item #91785.  Priced at $10.00
2. Palette Tissue Box:  A SUPER gift for your office mate or anyone with a home office.  Space is always a premium and this is a great space saver.  Available at MOMA Item #96731.  Priced at $15.00

Super Space Saver

Super Space Saver

3.  Etch A Sketch:A perennial favorite.  A gift that encourages your child’s creativity as well as coordination and keeps them busy.  Good for car trips.  Recent renewed popularity due to the past presidential election. Available through MOMA or Amazon or ToysRUs. Priced around $15.00

4. Note Cards:  Tired of receiving birthday greetings and well wishes from your kids or best friend.  A thoughtful gift which might give the recipient some thought. Every museum has an assortment of note cards and stationery, many with reproduction art from the museum.  Prices vary.

5. Flash Drive: On the other hand, if you have a techie on your list, this gift will be appreciated. One can always use another flash drive and why not one with personality?  The Metropolitan Museum of Art offers some very unique flash drives priced at $29.95.  You can get an Egyptian mummy, William, the blue hippopotamus or a guitar. I wanted to keep these gift ideas under $25.oo so for a flash drive you might want to go to your local Staples.  Look what I found!  Priced at $14.99

Let's play Angry Birds

Let’s play Angry Birds

6. Picasso Poster Art:  Picasso Exhibition Poster from The Guggenheim Museum.  Sure to please any art lover on your list, this black and white poster #14550 is available for $25.00.  Suitable for framing.

7. P-51 Mustang EZBuild Model:   A hands-on gift.  The Museum of The City of New York has several model kits available.  They snap together, no glue needed.  What young person on your list would love this project?

8. Free Form Magnet Board:  This is a gift that will bring out the artist in your child.  It’s a wonderful take-along toy for a long car ride.  No mess, no fuss.  No pens, paper, crayons or pencils. Use a stylus to draw and erase with your finger. Fun along the way. Available at The Whitney Museum Item# 70487. Priced at $24.00

Free Form Magnet Board

Free Form Magnet Board

9. 1939 New York World’s Fair Umbrella: You can always use another umbrella!  This item is available at The New York Historical Society, Item # 29468.  It is a pretty sky blue with illustrations of many of the exhibitions from that fair.  Priced at $19.95

10. Beatrix Potter plush Jemima Puddle-Duck:  Beatrix Potter has given several generations stories and tales of Peter Rabbit and his friends. Jemima Puddle-Duck is available at The Morgan Library,  # x6061.  Priced at $16.95.  Isn’t there someone on your list who would like to cuddle with one of these soft and cuddly characters.  Also available:  Mr. Jeremy Fishter and Peter Rabbit, priced at $12.95/$13.95

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

12/12/12-Lotto Numbers? 12 Days of Christmas? 13 Days To Go…A Holiday Hostess Gift

December 12, 2012 by pbenjay

If you have a holiday party invite in the next two weeks, I’ve got an idea for you!  Simple, creative, useful and it will last a whole lot longer than that bottle of red wine.  This one you will need to make ahead of time and by that I mean you just can’t throw it together the day of the party like my other quickie solution to last minute gift dilemma;  Hostess Gift with a Punch! December 8th-Count Down To Christmas 17 Days to Go

Scented Sugars

What a sweet treat!

What a sweet treat!

This gift requires a couple of Mason jars or glass containers which can be purchased at stores like The Container Store, Marshall’s Home Goods or Michael’s.  Of course I think using vintage mason jars (think yard/garage sale) would be really great.     Scented sugars can be used in coffee, tea, batter mixes, well just about anything you put sugar on.  You can use aromatic edibles such as geranium leaves, rose petals, vanilla beans and orange and lemon peel.  When using the lemons or oranges, wash the skin thoroughly, peel the skin and leave it out on a paper towel to dry out a bit for at least a day.

To create these pretty jars layer granulated sugar with the leaves or peel.  Seal in an airtight containers for a few days while the sugars absorbs the scents.  A gift of one or three in various sizes is sure to please and make a very, very sweet remembrance.

Scented Sugars recipe from Martha Stewart Living December/January-1993/1994

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Holiday Humor from Maxine! Laugh Until Christmas-14 Days and Counting…

December 11, 2012 by pbenjay

Holiday stress! YIKES! Take it from Maxine, it ain’t worth it.  The whole shebang is over with in 24 hours and was it really worth 24 days of your life making it perfect?  That depends on whether you are Martha or a Martha wannabee like me.  BUT wait, I’m over it this year;  There is no perfection.  Taking the simple, quick and easy way out this year.  Maybe next year it’ll be different but for now, I’m listening to Maxine, not Martha.  Gosh I hope she’s not reading this blog ( really Martha, it’s only a temporary lapse of responsibility and obsession).

Maxine on the 2012 Election!

Maxine on the 2012 Election!

Notice they're not Gingerbread Ladies!

Notice they’re not Gingerbread Ladies!

"I'll have what she has"!

“I’ll have what she has”!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour | 1 Comment »

Google This!!! – Six Word Memoir Monday

December 10, 2012 by pbenjay

Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...

Image via CrunchBase

If you’re a regular follower of this blog, you know that in the past, I often posted a blog entitled Six Word Memoir Monday.  Today’s Six Words are part of today’s new lexicon.  Instead of writing the words in a semi-sentence form, I’m going to give you the meanings also.  I also sometimes post a blog that features words and phrases that have passed out of our language or are on their way.  Generation X and Y are clueless when it comes to the meaning or origin of these phrases.  But the tables are turned today, these words are best understood by those under the age of 35.

Googlejuice – What your website has if it appears naturally at the top of a Google search (without having to pay for it).  

Google Politics – To make a thousand accusations, none of which are substantiated.

Google Stalk – The act of using a Google search to research a potential  boyfriend or girlfriend with the hope of obtaining information about his or her interests.

Googlephobia – The fear that Google is taking over everything and is threatening to become another Microsoft.

Googlewash – An effort by bloggers to change the meaning of a new word, term or phrase by peppering their Web logs with an alternate meaning. RESULT: A search using Google will turn up thousands of pages with the altered definition, while the pages carrying the original and intended usage get buried.

Googleverse – Another sign that Google is dominating our world.  It’s the collection of Web pages, images or content indexed or otherwise connected to Google and therefore now part of the Google universe.

 

 

Posted in Six Word Memoirs | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Count Down Till Christmas-December 10th-Dinner Disaster+Carpet Calamity

December 10, 2012 by pbenjay

Pressed Glass Bobeche

Pressed Glass Bobeche

So you’re hosting a Holiday Party? How nice! Is it going to be a dinner party with your table set with fine china and white linen?  Or a cocktail party with guests milling around, wine glass in hand?  Either one could spell disaster for the hostess.  Well maybe NOT exactly a disaster but certainly upsetting IF after all the guests have left, you discover that those lovely white tapers dripped beyond the bobeches and deposited globs of wax on your heirloom linen tablecloth.  OR somehow, some way, someone moved some of the lit candles you had around the house AND sure enough, there is solidified wax on your living room carpet.  Could happen…

What to do?  Don’t panic, don’t throw the tablecloth out.  Or you could refer to my previous post Count Down To Christmas-December 7th Let’s Light The Way!

How to Remove Candle Wax
On table linens: Scrape off what you can with a spoon. Using an ironing board, place several paper towels under the stain and a few on top and press with a warm iron. The paper towels will absorb the wax. Replace the paper towels a few times to avoid transferring stains back to the table linens. Sponge any remaining stain with Tide Boost Pre-Treat spray; blot, allow to air-dry, then wash, using bleach if the fabric allows.

On the rug: For wool, cover the wax with a brown grocery bag (one layer) and press with a warm iron. To remove any wax that remains, use WoolClean Dry Spot Remover No. 2. For a synthetic rug, follow the ironing advice for a wool rug, then apply Goof Off with a dry cloth; rinse with a damp cloth. Dry with paper towels.

These stain removal tips are sourced from Real Simple.

 

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Only 16 Days Till Christmas-December 9th-Peppermint Power!

December 8, 2012 by pbenjay

Candy Canes - A Christmas Icon

Candy Canes – A Christmas Icon

Before today I had never heard of Candy Cane Dust or Peppermint Powder.  However, once I read how ridiculously simple this was to make and the number of ways you could use it, I knew I had to blog it.  There is only one ingredient and only one step!

CANDY CANE DUST

Put candy canes in a food processor and pulverize them to dust.

Candy Cane Dust is delightful sprinkled on your hot cocoa and your coffee.  Sprinkle it on ice cream, yogurt, cupcake frosting or add to your cake and cookie batter.

Crushed Candy Canes

Crushed Candy Canes

Peppermint Power your way through the next 16 days!

 

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Hostess Gift with a Punch! December 8th-Count Down To Christmas 17 Days to Go

December 8, 2012 by pbenjay

Do you find yourself at odds on the afternoon of the evening you are invited to a Holiday Party wondering what to bring as a Hostess gift?  I mean really, the standard bottle of wine is well….mundane.  Here’s a different approach to bringing a libation to the host and hostess.  To really add punch to this gift, it should be presented in a beautiful velvet bag.  Of course any pretty wine bottle bag will do but if you are often invited to holiday parties then I suggest going to a couple of holiday fairs;  The kind Senior Centers and church organizations sponsor because that’s the place you will find lovely  handmade wine bags.  Now that you have the bag, this is what goes in it.

Cranberry Spice Punch

Cranberry Spice Punch

CRANBERRY SPICE PUNCH

1 container (64 oz) cranberry juice cocktail

1 can (46 oz) pineapple juice

1 can (12 oz) frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

2 cinnamon sticks

1/2 tsp whole cloves

1/2 tsp whole allspice

1/8 tsp salt

In a Dutch oven, combine cranberry juice cocktail, pineapple juice, lemonade concentrate, brown sugar, cinnamon sticks, cloves, allspice, and salt.  Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 15 minutes.  Allow mixture to cool.  Strain into a large container.  Cover and store in refrigerator.  Serve hot or cold.

You can purchase gift bottles/containers at stores like Home Goods, The Container Store or Michael’s.  Or an empty Perrier bottle will be just as nice.

Related articles

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

Count Down To Christmas-December 7th Let’s Light The Way!

December 8, 2012 by pbenjay

CANDLES have been associated with Christmas since forever because as we all know before electricity, before gas and kerosene lamps, there were candles.  And candles have always been part of our holiday imagery.  Think back over the years.  I remember Christmas cards featuring candles in lantern posts and pictures of a little kid in a nightshirt holding a candle in the classic candle holder as part of the Christmas culture.

Light the way!

Light the way!

Victorian Christmas trees were adorned with real candles and LIT !  How did they escape burning the house down?  In the 20th Century, we electrified the candles and put them in every window in the house.  I was so obsessed with that concept that when we built a house, I made sure the electrician knew I wanted an outlet under every window on 3 sides of the house.  I’ve used small votive candles in luminaries to light the way to my home on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  However, now that we are in the 21st Century, we have technology on our side.  Behold the battery-operated candle and one that is made out of a wax-like material and look SO REAL, it’s hard to believe they’re not.  

These candles have really come of age this past year.  You can purchase all sizes and colors in a great number of stores.  I have found several in The Christmas Tree Shop (not a pun and not really a Christmas shop) and bought a bunch at Costco.  These candles are The ANSWER.  What a terrific way to set a mood.  Scattered around the house during the holidays, they produce just the warm glow you’re looking for.  And as far as luminaries, these candles will surely not blow out in the breeze and catch the bag on fire!  

Think about the myriad ways in which you can utilize these faux but-oh-so-real-looking candles and make your life prettier and softer.  So much of the holiday preparations are time-consuming and costly.  With these candles you get a lot of bang for your buck,

They even come scented!

They even come scented!

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Count Down to Christmas-19 Days Till…Sparkly Table Centerpiece

December 7, 2012 by pbenjay

Glitter makes everything look festive! Try this idea for your holiday dinner table or New Year’s party table.  This is one of the quickest and easiest ideas ever.  I wish I had thought of it first.  This creative centerpiece was designed by Alicia DiRago who did a guest blog for Martha Stewart Living.

The supplies can be purchased at Martha Stewart Home Depot! YES, it’s true, Martha Stewart has a section at your local Home Depot. There are only 3 components to this table decoration;  

Sparkling silver-glitter cone trees

ornament garland

ornaments to fill in spaces.

Set up as many cones as you want and wind ornament garlands around the cones. Fill in any spaces with odd ornaments in the same color family.  The theme here was “Icy Blue”.  As in most Martha Stewart craft supplies, the color coordination is made simple as she produces components in one, two or three color themes.  

Think Sparkling Ice

Think Sparkling Ice

Related articles

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour, BY THE WAY | 2 Comments »

Count Down To Christmas – December 5th

December 5, 2012 by pbenjay

NO Time to bake? Too busy shopping, writing out your Christmas cards, finding a grab bag gift for the office?  Still and all, everyone loves a good cookie at Christmas and these are right up my alley because they are made with chocolate and peanuts!  This is an excellent NO BAKE cookie recipe. I’m planning on making some this weekend with Finley Ray, my little helper.

No-Bake Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Stir in the brown sugar, cream, and cocoa, then boil for 1 minute.
  2. Remove the saucepan from heat, add the peanut butter and vanilla, and stir until smooth. Stir in the oats and peanuts.
  3. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the batter onto wax paper–lined baking sheets, spacing them 1 inch apart, and let cool until set, about 20 minutes.
  4. Storage suggestion: Keep the cookies at room temperature, between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container, for up to 3 days.

By Gina Marie Miraglia Eriquez , December, 2011 -Real Simple Recipes

NO BAKE and YUMMY

NO BAKE and YUMMY

Related articles

Posted in Amuse-bouche du jour | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

« Newer Posts - Older Posts »