Apple Cider Vinegar Toner

Did you know that apple cider vinegar is a wonderful astringent that will help combat the alkaline residue that soap or other cleansers can leave behind? When your skin maintains the correct pH balance, it has a much better chance of fighting off dryness and infections.

Astringent Ingredients:
2 cups distilled water
1/4 cup raw apple cider vinegar
10 drops favorite essential oil (not fragrance oil): try lemon, lavender or geranium

Mix water, vinegar and essential oils, shake well to blend. Using a cotton cleansing pad or cotton ball, apply approximately 1 teaspoon to the face.

No refrigeration is required, but for maximum freshness and potency, use within 1 year

Enjoy!

Paradox of our Times

Paradox of our times

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Wordless Wednesday

I Love Turkish Delight Candy

I love Turkish Delight Candy Bars. They are called Big Turk and are made by Nestle ,Canada, who also make Aero Bars, but that’s another yummy story.

Turkish Delight is a candy that originated in Turkey in the 1700's. It has a soft, jelly-like consistancy, and is usually flavored with rosewater, but I have seen it made with orange, mint or lemon flavorings.

Due to the difficulty finding Big Turk, I started searching for suppliers and found aome great recipes.

Recipe One

Cook Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes
Ingredients:
• 4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 cups cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 4 1/4 cups water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons rosewater
• 1 cup confectioners sugar
• Vegetable oil ot shortening

Preparation:
In a 9 inch baking pan, grease the sides and bottom with vegetable oil or shortening. Line with wax paper and grease the wax paper.

In a saucepan, combine lemon juice, sugar and 1 1/2 cups water on medium heat. Stir constantly until sugar dissolves. Allow mixture to boil. Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer, until the mixture reaches 240 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine cream of tartar, 1 cup corn starch and remaining water in saucepan over medium heat. Stir until all lumps are gone and the mixture begins to boil. Stop stirring when the mixture has a glue like consistency.

Stir in the lemon juice, water and sugar mixture. Stir constantly for about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to low, Allow to simmer for 1 hour, stirring frequently.

Once the mixture has become a golden color, stir in rosewater. Pour mixture into wax paper lined pan. Spread evenly and allow to cool overnight.

Once it has cooled overnight, sift together confectioners sugar and remaining cornstarch.

Turn over baking pan containing Turkish delight onto clean counter or table and cut with oiled knife into one inch pieces.

Coat with confectioners sugar mixture. Serve or store in airtight container in layers separated with wax or parchment paper.


Recipe Two

24 servings
3 envelopes Knox gelatin
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon rose flavoring
Few drops red food coloring
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup cornstarch (or more)

Bring gelatin, sugar and water to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat, and add rose flavoring and red food coloring. Strain into buttered pan and chill 24 hours.
Mix confectioners' sugar and cornstarch. Cover a slab with the mixture. Turn candy out onto slab. Cut into 1-inch squares, being careful not to let them touch each other. Roll each in sugar mixture, and pack in an airtight container with remainder of sugar mix.

And if you prefer your sweets in liquid form, here is an adult drink!

1 shot vodka
2 shots lychee liqueur
2 shots Lemon and lime juice
2 dashes syrup of roses
1 dash grenadine syrup
1 mug lychee juice
1/4 mug cranberry juice

Shake the ingredients together in a cocktail shaker with 6 cubes of ice. Serve in a martini glass with a whole wedge of lemon squeezed a little.


But, if you don’t have time to make it like me right now, I found a great candy store, Dan’s Candy Stand in Ontario, who carries them along with a lot of other goodies, and best of all , will ship to the US.
http://www.danscandystand.com

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday

Just Relax!

Gratitude

We were interviewed recently for a feature spot coming soon on Woman Making Moves, http://www.womenmakingmoves.org/ and one of the questions was :
How do you keep yourself motivated?
My reply was, I read the reviews of my products. My reviews show me I’m on the right track and people do appreciate what I do. Right now there are three active blog reviews about my products.

http://reedwhatmatters.com/2009/09/haileys-dragonfly-garden-of-botanicals/

http://grrlysquirrelheartsgavin.blogspot.com/

http://blog.hand-craftedcreations.com/2009/11/haileys-dragonfly-garden-handmade-and.html


Every week I get letters from customers who tell me how much they love my products or a customer who is on twitter will tell me the wonderful things my soaps did for their skin. Another way I keep motivated is by watching my dreams unfold before me. I have always wanted to create something that would help people and now I’m living that dream.
I also want to leave my granddaughter Hailey a Legacy and I hope besides the journals I leave her, that I can leave her a successful business that was build on trust, need and love of what I do.

Four Thieves Oil

The new strain of flu’s are in the news daily. We had Bird Flu ,Swine Flu and now H1N1. The government is telling everyone to get a flu shot, which is something I’m not comfortable with. So I turned to nature to see what she has to offer and remembered I have a recipe for “Four Thieves Oil".

There are many stories about where it came from and why or who created it. Here is one story: The Four Thieves Vinegar. Perfumers by day, robbers by night. Four men made a concoction of herbs and essential oils in a base of vinegar and would douse their body with this before they went our robbing plague victims. They had a pretty good track record of stealing riches until the King found out and captured them, forcing them to give up their secret weapon against the plague. The herbal ingredients were wormwood, meadowsweet, juniper berries, rosemary, camphor, sage, cinnamon and cloves in a base of white wine vinegar.

Current Thieves Oil Recipe : The essential oils in this blend have been noted for anti-bacterial, anti-viral and antiseptic properties while stimulating the immune system, circulation and the respiratory system. According to research at Weber State University, Thieves Oil was found to have a 99% kill rate against airborne bacteria when diffused.

Recipe :

FOUR THIEVES OIL

1 part eucalyptus
1 part rosemary
1 part cinnamon
1 part clove
1 part lemon
Must be mixed and stored in glass.

Apply 1-2 drops of Four Thieves on the bottoms of the feet and on the nape of the neck.
Apply under the arms and on the chest.
Diffuse for 20 minutes or less at work or at home.
You can also mix with olive oil if you feel too strong. I recommend 1 tablespoon of each in a 2 oz bottle then fill remainder with oil.

To use as a disinfectant spray: Add one tablespoon of blend to a spray bottle with one cup water and one cup apple cider vinegar .Spray on doorknobs, cabinet handle, showers, anything you want disinfected.
To use as a hand sanitizer: In a small bowl mix one drop of Cinnamon, clove, rosemary and eucalyptus oil with five drops of lemon. Mix this with one ounce of distilled water and ½ teaspoon of Aloe Vera gel. Store in a squeeze bottle or travel size container.

As reported by Anahad O'Onnor in the NY Times:
A recent study by a team of surgeons, for example, found that a solution made with cinnamon oil killed a number of common and hospital-acquired infections, like streptococcus and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA. The study found it was just as effective as several antiseptics widely used in hospitals. Another study by French researchers in 2008 had similar results, showing that at concentrations of 10 percent or less, cinnamon oil was effective against Staphylococcus, E. coli and several antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria.

CAUTON: Due to the cinnamon and clove contained, one must be cautious--it may cause irritation if improperly used. Fair skinned, blue-eyed individuals, redheads and those who tend to sunburn easily need to heed and dilute Thieves Oil blend in a carrier oil like olive oil , almond or macadamia nut before applying to the skin. I have used 1-2 drops of Thieves on the bottom of my feet and also at the nape of the neck. Other places could be under the arms, and on the chest. I do not suggest using this in a bath or in a sauna! Diffuse for only short periods of time--20 minutes or less at work or at home.

Guest Blogging

Last week I had the honor of being a guest blogger on one of my favorite blogs that belongs to my friend, Jen who has "Reed What Matters"
http://reedwhatmatters.com/

She will keep you engaged, she's warm hearted and funny. This is a must see blog. And you too can be a guest blogger. Just contact her via her blog page or on Twitter @ReedWhatMatters

This is what we posted on her site:



My Legacy to my Granddaughter, Hailey

Children …they are our future. But what are they learning? Where do they get there Wisdom from? Many, many moons ago children looked to the elders of the family or tribes for wisdom and advice. They revered their elders and honored them. Stories, antidotes and knowledge were passed down from generation to generation via our elders.

The world we live in now, is a different place. Children are taught by the state, parents are busy, story time doesn’t exist in most houses and children don’t always get to know their grandparents due to people moving for jobs or other reasons.

There are so many things we want to share with our grandchildren, but how do we do it? How do we share our thoughts, dreams and wisdom with them if we are not with them all the time? We journal!

I started a journal for Hailey the day she was born. I was blessed enough to watch her take her first breath in this world and got to hold her within the first 15 minutes of her life. I found a great journal, based on the song “I Hope you Dance” by Lee Ann Womack. (It’s a wonderful song, providing some great thoughts and wishes) I went home and shared my joy of her birth with her, in her journal. I write to her, not about her. This is something I will give her when she is older.



I tell her about things we did together and include pictures. I press flowers that she has given me. I share my thoughts on life and events that are going on in the world at the current time (nothing too heavy or depressing though…this is not a place to purge your pain. I keep personal journals for that, that someday she will also have when I’m gone) . I share quotes and poems. I pass on advice, wisdom and knowledge. This journal is for her story, through my eyes.

So, start a journal for your grandchildren. Pass on the joy you receive with them being in your life. Hailey is my sunshine. I’m lucky enough to see her everyday so I have a lot to write about. . She was also my inspiration for my business; Hailey’s Dragonfly Garden of Botanicals (http://www.haileysdragonflygarden.com)

So, go get a journal or even a notebook and tell your grandchild what fun you had with them when you were both sitting on the kitchen floor and banging on the pots and pans like drums. Tell them how they made you laugh when they splashed in the tub for the first time. It doesn’t matter what you write in, as long as you share from the heart!

Joyful Writing,

Dakota Dawn

Mule Camp Market Fall Festival

We decided to try a local Fall Festival called Mule Camp Market. What a great time we had. Our only concern last weekend seemed to be the weather, but Mother Nature kept us in mind and it didn’t rain until Monday!
Hailey was off school on Friday, Oct 9th so she helped me sell soaps and was part of our TV debut. We were interviewed live on Gainesville Channel 18. I was very nervous as I have never done a TV interview but we heard it went really well. (We hope to see a copy of it soon). It also turned out to be very successful, as many people stopped by to buy our soaps after seeing us on TV.
It was a lot of work to get ready and to set up but I must say it was well worth it as we met many people in our area and made some new friends.
We debuted three new soaps and we have decided to keep all of them.
We have added :
Butter Bar, Australian Pink and Raspberry Vanilla Oat.
We also conducted a drawing for a $25.00 gift certificate and the winner is....... Julie Hayes from the Atlanta area!



Til next time, Enjoy!