Mary, Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow?

Most mornings, our dog Abby and I "check the garden."  

As soon as she hears me slip on my flip flops she heads straight for the back door.  Recently, Mary Grace is accompanying us on our morning checks.

Mary LOVES to garden!

It makes me so happy that we both have this love to grow things, even if she isn't too keen on eating the fruits and vegetables 

of our labor.

Who could resist picking these bright yellow beauties?

Note:  Mary also picks them when they are green. 

 I think the oranges are her favorite.  Every time she picks one, she smells it and carries it around the yard for a continued sniff or two.

On occasion, I can even get her to eat a slice!

 This girl has no problem getting dirty!

She helped plant Swiss chard, turnips, red romaine lettuce, and beets.  I'm trying to teach her how to re-grow kitchen scraps like lettuces, green onions, and celery. 

She actually refers to the garden boxes as, "MY garden!"

Since she now has taken over the outside,

 I decided to bring some of the garden inside...

A sweet little pot of paper-whites

for all my own!

A Creamer Christmas ~ Simmering Spices

The last little bit of our Creamer Homemade Christmas 

are these wonderful simmering spices!

Dried oranges from our trees

A bit of dried rosemary from the garden

Cloves, Bay leaves, Cinnamon Sticks, 

and a dash of Gingerbread Spice,

This is the perfect project for little hands 

who want to contribute to Christmas gift giving.

And while she's occupied, gives this mama a little time 

to wrap last minute presents!

Close your cellophane bag with 

a simple sticker with instructions...

And they're all ready for this little elf to deliver!

May God bless you with the merriest of days!

A Creamer Christmas ~ Homemade Apple Butter

I'm not going to lie about it, I'M CHEAP!

Maybe I should say...frugal, instead.

Truth is, with five kids, the holidays are a huge financial crunch time for us.  I try to lighten the load by making homemade/handmade gifts for our friends and family.  One of the gifts I'm making this year is apple butter.

I ate tons of this stuff as a kid and I always loved it!  

It truly couldn't be easier to make. 

 You start by peeling, coring, and chopping 12 pounds of apples.  

I used a variety of Gala, Fuji, and Granny Smith apples.

This is a great activity for the kids to help out with.  

The older boys have good knife skills 

and little Mary Grace helped with the spices:

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of white sugar

2 tablespoons of cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

2 teaspoons allspice

Just a splash of apple cider vinegar

Mix ingredients well into a large crock pot and cook on high for 8-10 hours.  Blend until smooth with immersion blender, or by hand if you like a chunky apple butter.  Fill sterile jars and process.

Your house is going to smell AMAZING!

This recipe makes 12 half pints, 

which is the perfect size for gift giving.

From left to right:  Apple Butter, Candied Jalapenos and Orange Jelly from our garden.

Sure, at first thought, homemade gifts are a great way to save money and avoid the stress of the mall.
But I hope our friends and family know that they are truly made with LOVE!
So act like you like it when you open it,
and a little squealing wouldn't hurt either!

A Creamer Christmas ~ Soap Making

I have always been obsessed with homemade soaps.  

For years, I have only dabbled in the 'melt and pour' types because I was afraid of working with lye. 

 LYE! 

So after much research, I decided to dive right in and start making our own cold process soaps.

Cold process soap is not hard to make 

but it does require some equipment.

Lye will not kill you, but you do have to take precautions.

Different oils have different soap making properties 

and it's so fun experimenting and being creative!

This particular recipe I used takes six weeks to cure, 

so one weekend in early November, I had a soap making weekend to get ready for Christmas gift giving.

And while waiting overnight to un-mold the soaps, I made these big, chunky crochet washcloths to pair them with.

There is a bit of a learning curve to making soaps, 

they don't always turn out how you think they will.  

That dark chocolate beauty above is a vanilla bean soap 

made with palm, coconut, and olive oils.  

It was pure white when I poured it into the mold!  

Over time it has turned into this luscious brown...and it smells good enough to eat. 

Having only made half a dozen or so batches, I won't give any soap making advice here.  But I will tell you that it's highly addictive and I've had so much fun making, sharing, and using my soaps.

I just hope those that receive a big bar of soap and washcloth from us don't get offended and think they smell bad!

Back To Normal

I can't believe that I haven't visited this space since JULY!  

That's nuts!

Truth is, life was just freakin' insane for a while, and it seems there was one upheaval and crisis after another.  The good news is that we are finally back to normal....or what WE consider normal!

Doug and I have really great jobs right now with flexible schedules, the kids are back into their routines, and I am slowly cleaning up the chaos of the past few months.

Normal feels really good right now, my friends!

And since I can't leave this post picture free,

here is a peek into our morning celebrating 

St. Nicholas' Feast Day!

Note the flip flops.

St. Nicholas was NOT impressed!

The Secret to My Salsa...

We are at the peak of summer here in South Texas and that means

TOMATOES!

I only planted nine tomato plants this year but they are giving me loads of fruits. They really love this heat and humidity!  As soon as the first tomatoes turned the slightest hue of orange, the boys started hollering for salsa.  

So I thought I'd share my recipe.

The secret to my salsa is...

There is NO recipe!

And really, isn't that how the best things come about? 

First, I core and split a large pizza pan size amount of tomatoes from the garden (how's that for specifics?).  Place them under the broiler for 5-8 minutes until they are charred and the skin starts to wrinkle.  Allow to cool slightly, take off the skins, and give them a squeeze to remove excess water and seeds.  

Puree in food processor.

Next, add one onion, 3 cloves of garlic, a handful of cilantro, and garden peppers to the food processor.  For mild salsa, remove all seeds and veins of the peppers.  For a little more kick, leave some in.

Season to taste with salt, cumin, paprika, and chili powder.  

I also add a splash of apple cider vinegar, 

the juice of one lime will work just as well.

Combine well and allow to sit for a few hours 

to let all the flavors combine.

Then taste test and adjust your seasonings

(LOTS of tortilla chips come in handy for this step!)

Then jar it up and put in the fridge.

This "recipe" makes 4-5 pints.

I like small batch cooking because I don't can my salsa,

I don't like the way cooked salsa tastes.

But truth be told, 

it NEVER lasts that long around here anyway!

Weekend Getaway

This weekend, Doug and I did something we haven't done

 since our honeymoon.

We took a trip away for the weekend by ourselves!

This past weekend was Doug's birthday AND my high school reunion so we made a weekend getaway out of it and headed to 

Ft. Worth, without any children.

The FIRST time in 23 years of marriage!

We had dinner and strolled hand-in-hand down 

the streets of the Stockyards.

We ate at our favorite:  In-N-Out Burger.

We toured my Alma Matter.

(For more on that story, click HERE)

And we partied like rock stars at my reunion after party.

Well, maybe not exactly like rock stars...

probably more like middle aged parents of five 

who like to be in bed by 11pm.

But you get the drift!

It was awesome and I'm really looking forward 

to next year's high school reunion,

It will be my 30th!

Hard to believe, I KNOW!

 

How to know if you're a good dad

I just wanted to take a minute to wish my husband a happy 

Father's Day!

Doug is a wonderful father to our five children 

and this is how I know:

You've never been on the Maury show.

"Doug Creamer, you ARE the father!"

You don't call it "babysitting" when you are watching the children by yourself.

Gorillas don't get shot when you take the kids 

to the zoo.

You are the kids favorite pillow.

The kids know you love them,

but you still tell each of them every day.

You're still here.

In an age of broken families and absent fathers,

leaving was never an option for you.

You put your children before yourself.

ALWAYS.

And last, but not least...

You love their mom!

Happy Father's Day,

my Doug E. Poo!

Sorry I've been M.I.A.

My goodness it's been a minute since I've last visited this space!

The Creamers have been on a whirlwind since spring began with Ryan moving away from home, two of the boys playing baseball in two different cities, JP's art classes and shows, and little Mary Grace's dance lessons.  I was also working five days a week to get us to Florida for the Homeschool World Series and family vacation!

Here are the highlights:

Pensacola Beach

 The Homeschool World Series

Kyle's last game as a Senior

DISNEYWORLD!

JP's recent art show entries.

He took 1st, 2nd, AND 3rd in his division!

Mary Grace's dance recital.

Yep, she's the one in the middle...in tears.

Danny's team won the league championship

Now we are on to the All Star games!

I look forward to getting back here more often because I have so many new projects, the garden is in full swing, and the kids have been doing lots of interesting things.

Pop in again soon!