Apple Pie Glaze

To add a little special touch to apple pie, glaze the top crust. Simply mix some powdered sugar and water to make a thick glaze and coat the crust with it as soon as the pie comes out of the oven. As the pie cools the glaze will harden and add a delightful sweetness to your yummy pie.

Sweet Sweet Potatoes

I like sweet potatoes mashed and very, very sweet. I like to add lots of brown sugar and butter to them at which point they cease being a healthy food. For special occasions I think that's okay, but for regular dinners here's a healthier option: Peel, chop and boil the sweet potatoes as you would regular mashed potatoes. After cooking the sweet potatoes, mash them and add some applesauce and a touch of cinnamon. Stir well. This is especially good if the applesauce was made a bit chunky. This made an excellent side dish that even little Evangeline enjoyed.

Lighted Wine Bottle

Sometime last year I had seen a catalog that was selling wine bottles with lights inside them. They looked so elegant and unique I just loved them and as I was contemplating purchasing them I thought, "Wait a minute. Why can't I just make something like that instead?" (On a side thought, never forget to ask yourself that question about anything you're looking to buy. Maybe you can make it, maybe you can't or maybe you really don't have the time to make it, but always ask yourself that question and you'll be amazed at what you find you can create! Just ask Raquel about duct tape and sandals.:-))

So here is what I came up with:

We had this empty wine bottle and I thought it looked perfect for this project. I took a short string of white "Christmas" lights ( it might have been a 50 or 60 light string) and stuffed it into the bottle. You have to have to use the kind of lights that have a plug only at one end since there's no way a huge plug will fit into a regular wine bottle. Leave enough cord sticking out the top of the bottle so that you can easily plug it in somewhere. I taped the cord to the back of the bottle to keep it hidden from view.
I love how my lighted wine bottle looks and its so easy to store from year to year. I do have to be careful how long I keep it lit because the bottle does get hot after a while.

Label Those Dishes!

Here's a very simple idea that my mom used to do that really simplifies hosting a big special meal: Long before the food for the meal is ready, find serving dishes for everything and label them for whatever food you will be filling it with. "Post It" notes work great for this or just little slips of paper are good, too. This eliminates that annoying problem of running out of serving dishes and having to frantically search for a dish while the food is getting cold and people are getting hungry. And if you get the serving utensils ready ahead of time and paired up with the dishes then that's even better!

Hand Soap Idea

Here's a simple way to save some money: Buy the foam-making hand soap pumps for your bathrooms, kitchen, etc., then make your own refill solution by mixing one part regular hand soap with three parts water. Make sure the solution is mixed well so it doesn't clog the foaming soap pump. This method makes one refill bottle of hand soap last a really long time.