Letter
from the Editor

Just in case you
didn't know it, I got my start writing stacked cookie recipes in mason jars years
ago, which led to stacked dinners, stacked cakes, cakes baked in pint mason jar's
and the rest was history. I stepped up from hobby, to e-Bay and then off to
this site and Amazon. The intrigue with a mason jar is that it offers an affordable
packaging solution first and product second. Typically we create products and
then are stumped as to how to tastefully and affordably wrap them. At times
the packaging can cost more than the product. This is not true with the
economy of a mason jar.

This newsletter was
not my intended line of subjects for this issue, in fact, I wanted to wait another
month to submit this. But so many people are now e-mailing me about what they
are making for Christmas and it seems everyone is starting without me!
Therefore--this issue is dedicated to those, like me, who have no clue what we plan
on giving this coming holiday.
When you make a home
made, one of a kind gift, people know you care! Oh, the things we can
do with mason jars! Generally found at Wal-Mart, I also look at grocery stores because I have come to like all the
brands for various reasons. That would be Ball, Harvest and Kerr.
I love Kerr to use as economical and pretty drinking jars, as I have discussed
before in other parts of the site. They add such a French Country look and
flair to the kitchen, as well as a cute way to store some smaller dry goods I use in
the pantry. Harvest has nice mugs with handles and tiny versions for spice
mixes, normally used for salt and pepper. I find 17 teaspoons of anything
fills up the tiny harvest jars and added my spice mix recipes for that
container. To the right is a pretty 4 ounce Kerr jar, I cannot find a photo of
the 8 ounce version I use at home. Below is an example of the tiny Harvest
salt jar I use for spice mixes. The Harvest line is usually found at Dollar
General and how can you beat 50 cents?
People
often e-mail me if I carry mason jars. I am not sure I would want the
liability of shipping glass, I don't know how the major companies do it with no
breakage, and I am not sure I want to know. Beyond The Bathroom Chemist,
my best selling book is "The Kitchen Art's Collection" and that is
just full of stacked recipes in jars, that I tested endlessly years ago to be sure
the final products were awesome. I refer to that book all the time. It
is some 200 pages and also includes Mabel's Ten Best Spice Mixes and Dry Drink
Recipes, and other gift's in jar ideas. In the last few years I have noticed
these filled jars I wrote about years ago in Cracker Barrel and everywhere I turn
and usually for $9! Click the photo on the left to learn more
about the Kitchen Art's Collection.
Idea's to put in
mason jar's?
Some examples include
the Herbs de Provence Recipe below, presented in a smaller
mason jar such as the one right above, is one unique and cute idea. Dry
drink recipes, dip mixes, memory jars are very popular right now, complete
with photo's and other goodies that are tailored around things the recipient
loves. Candy in bright wrappers, tiny stuffed animals, silk flower buds, toy
cars.
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Holiday Recipe Post Cards to E-Mail
I think one of the least known area's of the Mabel site happens to
be the holiday recipe postcards that can be e-mailed to a friend. I really
enjoyed doing them a few years back, and offered free great recipes right on a very
cute card. I would encourage anyone to take a look and consider them one cool
thing to e-mail a buddy or loved one. There is no charge. There are also
dynamite ones for Thanksgiving and other events as well. Click here to see the line of recipe cards..
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Herbes de Provence
Recipe
*Herbs D' Province is a
beautiful mixture of aromatic herbs used in salads and other dressings.
The mixture is beautiful just from an aesthetic stand point. Herbes de
Provence is a
wonderful herb mixture that, in addition to rosemary, tarragon and thyme,
also contains lavender (the pretty flowers which are edible). You'll
just love it!

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1 Tbsp dried basil
½ Tbsp dried marjoram
1 Tbsp dried chervil
1 tsp dried tarragon
2 Tbsp dried thyme
1 Tbsp dried summer savory
1 tsp dried lavender
1 Tbsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried mint
½ tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf |
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Gift Basket Making
The Art of Making and
Selling Gift Basket's is one of the first books I wrote and just full of
ideas most people would
never think of, like where to buy discount items, how to take labels off with a
blow dryer and permanent marker off with hair spray. You really do not
want people to see you bought there treasures at a discount, if you did.
That is just the start of the book which then goes into many themes and just how
to arrange everything. I used to make lots of them for my staff, is how that all
got started. I could make a $100 looking gift basket for $10.
I tend to give
away my work to the Girl Scout's whenever I am supplied an e-mail of proof of a
troop. Recently one enterprising troop of Girl Scouts asked me to write
more about gift basket making in this issue and also made a clear request for a dry
Frappuccino Recipe such as Starbucks offers. Now, I am not
sure how old these girls are, but I can only assume the recipe is to make,
market and sell to adults or for parents! I just thought that was so
cute.
If you cannot
afford the e-book or spiral bound book, which I am always referring to
myself--there is so many ideas, then here are some flat out basics to assembling
a nice basket. I will address the Frappuccino recipe after this
article.
Basics of Gift
Basket Assembly
Baskets with handles are best.
Don't pick a basket too big. Use lots of shred to build the basket up as
high as you can because the shred will settle down after the weight of the
products are placed on it and you may be disappointed. Build up, not
out. After putting in the shred, I place the heaviest items in the middle,
such as a bottle of non-alcoholic champagne and I use a thin floral type wire to
anchor the neck of the bottle to the basket handle. I buy gold colored
wire for this. I place the bottle in the basket at an interesting angle,
not straight up. Once the main eye catcher is there, whether it be a
coffee cup or whatever your focus, you build your complimentary products around
it. Double stick tape helps stick items to other items and helps them stay
put, such as if I make a fan of five tea bags, to stick over a large bar of
chocolate. I do not always use just discounted products in my baskets, I
always add a few items in that I buy retail such as cheese, that would not be
able to store well as items like jams and teas would.
It is hard to
photograph a basket already wrapped. So the one above will have to suffice
to get the idea of "building up." The photo above also has no
handle--however the ting ting stick out at an angle gives the piece of art
movement. I like a "present within a present" idea and that is
where some items are gift wrapped and then placed in the basket in plain view
before wrapping of the final present--the basket itself. I often hide
another surprise, such a chocolate Twizzlers under the shred so the recipient
gets another surprise when they think the goodies are exhausted. I use
gold foil candy to fill any bare looking spots and then may throw curled ribbon
on the inside attached to the top of the basket handle prior to shrink
wrapping. For my three daughter's, I make three large baskets and do
them up great so that takes care of one big item under the Christmas tree.
Since they are no longer rug runners, and young adults, I have to put CD ROMS
and other stuff they like in these baskets. I have not quite figured out how
to stick a whole sound system in a basket.
I always have
large shrink wrap bags on hand and when I am done, that are much bigger than the
basket. I usually need someone to hold the bag open while I set the basket
at the bottom. When it is in the plastic properly, I grab the top of the
bag, just above the handle, like a tepee and tie it off with a piece of
thin wire and then fan it out. At this point the basket does not have to
be hit with a blow dryer, but looks nicer if it is done such as they do in the
department stores. When using heat evenly and carefully, I have to hold
the top so that does not get hit by the heat. I need the top the stay
fanned out. Anything can be stuck inside the top, such as a silk flower or
ting ting. Then around the neck I do curling ribbon and then a BIG FAT
BOW. The biggest pull bow I can find! I like gold foil the best and
always keep them around. They come in so handy for last minute
situations. I use to spray paint the baskets but that was such a labor
intensive practice. Natural is just fine, and so is just natural color
shred. It is the products and bow that make the gift a
"WOW." Also, when figuring out the design of your basket, try to
choose colors of products that do compliment each other no matter what theme you
decide. Also 475 Gift Basket Idea's
e-Book by Judea Bentley can be found by clicking this link.
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Dry Frappuccino Recipe
½ cup strong
dry coffee, 2½
cups dry milk, ¼ cup granulated sugar and coffee creamer, and 1 tbsp dry pectin.
Combine all of
the ingredients and shake well. Use about one ounce per cup and
mix with steaming hot water. Makes 24 oz. total.
Variations can include
the addition of vanilla
powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, and dried honey. Presentation
can be in a mason jar (but of coarse) with cinnamon sticks or rock candy
stirrer sticks secured with natural color raffia.
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Cheeseburger Chowder is Great! by Lynda William's
Recipe:
1/2 pound ground beef
3/4 cup chopped onion
4 tablespoons butter, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried parsley
3 cups chicken broth
4 cups diced peeled potatoes
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups evaporated milk
2 cups cubed process American Cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
Garnish:
Chopped dill pickle
Chopped tomato
In a sauté pan brown
the ground beef. Drain and set aside. In same sauté pan sauté onion in 1
tablespoon butter until tender. Add garlic, basil and parsley. Sauté about
3 minutes. Add broth and beef and potatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and
cover, simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until carrots and potatoes are tender.
Meanwhile melt remaining butter in a small skillet. Add flour and cook,
stirring, for 3 to 5 minutes. Gradually add evaporated milk, stirring
constantly, cooking and stirring for 6 to 8 minutes. Gradually stir the
sauce into the soup. Bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to
low. Add cheese, salt and pepper. Continue to stir until cheese melts.
Remove from heat and blend in sour cream. Garnish each serving with chopped
fresh tomatoes and dill pickle slices.
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Fruit and Popcorn Balls
Delicious raisins and popcorn are the perfect treat
for your family ghosts, goblins and princesses. Makes 9-12 balls or 15 bars.
10 cups of popped
popcorn, 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 1/4 cup of apple juice, 3 Tbsp. butter, 2 Tbsp.
light corn syrup, 1/4 tsp. salt, 2 cups of raisins, dried fruit, fruit bites,
peanuts (optional)
To Make: Butter a
very large bowl and set aside, combine liquids and heat until just boiling. Pour
over dry ingredients and toss. When just cool enough get ready to make balls!
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Herbal
Medicine Chest
Brandy Tucker, a
very cool subscriber of mine just back from England. I asked her to
tell me what she observed that may be different from the States. She
said the most notable phenomena was a ton of homeopathic and alternative
medicine shops. Apparently more frequently seen on each street than
Starbucks is here. She said the shops were so intriguing and could not
understand why the United States does not have such awareness or
exposure. I can name 3 solid reasons: Pfizer, Merck and
sadly, most of our own doctors. If there was a natural cure for most
anything, they would not be in business and what a business they
have. |

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Click here for a good site to
troubleshoot what you should have in your chest and to use more as a
reference. I will get more into homeopathic recipes myself, once
I understand the science and limitations.
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Master Tonic: A Natural Antibiotic
It is just that time of year that the changes
in our weather tend to start the cold of flu season. Beyond "Garlic
Soup for the Soul" in my Kitchen Art's book as well as free on the
"Get Well Soon" Postcard (click here for that) there has been made
known a master tonic that is supposed to be so strong, not only will viruses
want to leave, so will those who smell your breath! Use at your own
risk! The famous tonic is made up of the following:
-
Raw
Unfiltered Unbleached Non-distilled Apple Cider Vinegar
-
1 part fresh
chopped garlic cloves
-
1 part fresh
chopped White Onion (or hottest onions)
-
1 part fresh
grated Ginger Root
- 1 part fresh grated
Horseradish Root
- 1 part fresh chopped Cayenne
Peppers
To Make:
Fill a glass jar 3/4 of
the way full w/equal parts by volume (i.e. a cupful each) of the above
fresh chopped and grated herbs. Then fill jar to the top with RAW,
Unfiltered, unbleached, non-distilled apple cider vinegar. Close and
shake vigorously and then top off the vinegar if necessary.
Shake at least once a day
for two weeks, then filter the mixture through a clean piece of cotton
(old T-shirt, etc.), bottle and label. Make sure that when you make this
tonic that you shake it every time you walk by it, a minimum of once per
day. Remember that all the herbs and vegetables should be fresh (and
organically grown if possible) and use dried herbs only in an
emergency.
This tonic is extremely
powerful because all the ingredients are fresh. It's power should not be
underestimated. This formula is a modern day plague tonic and when added
to an incurable routine it can cure the most chronic conditions and
stubborn diseases. it stimulates maximum blood circulation, while
putting the best detoxifying herbs into the blood. This formula is not
just for the sniffles, it has helped to turn around the deadliest
infections like some of the new mutated killer viruses that defy
conventional antibiotics.
The dosage is 1/2 to 1
ounce, two or more times daily (1-2 Tbs.). Gargle and swallow. (DON'T
DILUTE with WATER.)
For ORDINARY infections,
1 dropper full taken 5-6 times a day will deal with most conditions. It
can be used during pregnancies, is safe for children (use smaller doses
and as a food is completely non-toxic. Make up plenty as it does NOT
need refrigeration and LASTS INDEFINITELY WITHOUT ANY SPECIAL STORAGE
CONDITIONS.
Ingredient properties:
-Garlic cloves (anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral,
anti-parasitical)
-White Onion, or hottest onions available (similar properties to garlic)
-Ginger Root (increases circulation to the extremities)
-Horseradish Root (increases blood flow to the head)
-Cayenne Peppers, or the hottest peppers available, i.e. habanero,
African Bird, -or Scotch Bonnets, etc. (a great blood stimulant).
Pro-biotic: antiviral,
anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-parasitical.
(Comes from The University of Natural Healing: Dr. Richard Schultzs' adaptation
of Dr. Christopher's' original anti-plague tonic). Submitted
by: Debbieway2busy@aol.com.
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New Holiday Items Just In
The decorative
mason lids are finally in and will stay in stock even out of
season. Our Animal Lover's Treats Cookbook now
comes with a copper dog biscuit cookie cutter and we think that is
great. We finally located 6" wooden spoons from the
Netherlands that go perfect with any stacked cookies or dinners in masons
jars being made as a gift. Click photos to buy!
Our Fragrance Oil
Blending Chart is now for sale in e-book format and well worth the $29.95
price. Click here to
order.
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Add Bonus Miles to
Your Karma
I read an article
about this phenomena and it truly has so much merit. We get caught up in our
own problems and life we tend to forget to give a lending hand to others. When
I meet "rugged individualists" (see Scott Peck who discussed this type of
person and how our society is heading that way) who claim they need no one, and have
no duty to help any other person, and their neighbors problems are not their
problems----I give them this example: If you are on a narrow road and cannot
get around the guy ahead of you who is fresh out of gas and you cannot go backwards,
he IS your problem and his problem IS also yours. Must you be on you be in
such situations to discover you do need other people and that those people also have needs?
Well this sermon is for those who are that above us. The rugged self-absorbed.
Just doing kind
every day acts builds up your Karma account, more so if it was the last thing you
had time to fit in, like helping someone take groceries to their car--(I know ya got
to be careful these days) but if you start lending a helping hand, it is better to not brag about it. You
get a minus for bragging. So I am not going to brag either, but I cannot count
the thousands of times in my life I had my own despair--took time to help
another--and whatever was despairing me resolved itself when I turned back around to
attend to it. I always see myself in other people and them in me. We all
have the same set of buttons it is just a matter of which ones we choose to push or
other people are pushing for us. And when you can say "less the grace of God go there I" and be
careful when pointing fingers--you probably reached the maturity whatever
higher source you believe in most likely requires. When you help someone else,
within reason, you help yourself because the idea is, we are all one.
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Did You Know?
-
Pam
cooking spray will dry finger nail polish.
-
Mayonnaise
will KILL LICE.
-
Lice
hate Suave Coconut Shampoo.
-
Elmer's
Glue - paint on your face, allow it to dry, peel off and see the dead
skin and blackheads if any. (We are not medically responsible for
this use.)
-
Sunburn
- empty a large jar of Nestea into your bath water.
-
Chigger
bite - Preparation H.
-
Fungus
on toenails or fingernails -- Vicks vapor rub.
-
Peanut
butter will remove ink from the face of dolls.
-
Heavy
dandruff -- pour on the vinegar!
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