Sweet Candy Mine

Well, I have woefully neglected the Fairweather Favorites page.  So, for my zero followers, I am publishing a family secret recipe.  Since nobody actually reads this blog, I have to believe that the secret is still safe!

This is the easiest and most delicious little candy - trust me.  People gobble these up like, well, candy.

Coconut Joys

Ingredients:

1 bag sweetened grated coconut
1 stick salted butter (don't substitute - don't use 'unsalted')
1 bag powdered sugar
Dark chocolate for melting (I favor Scharffen Berger - but you can substitute without hurting my feelings)
Shaved almonds (or other nuts) - if desired (sometimes, you just feel like a nut; sometimes, you don't)

Directions:
Place butter in medium to large pot.  Melt over medium/low heat, being careful not to brown the butter.  Once melted, remove the pot from the heat and add the bag of coconut.  Mix well.  Once fully mixed, begin adding powdered sugar, mixing well with a large spoon.  It typically takes most of the bag (sometimes a bit more than 1 bag.)  You know you have added enough when you can roll a small amount together into a ball that holds its form.  If you squeeze your balls and butter runs out, then add more sugar (or head to the hospital if you aren't making the Coconut Joys.)

Now let's have some fun.  Using about a tsp of the coconut mixture, roll small and tightly formed balls (about the size of a large marble) and place on a covered surface (a counter with wax paper works great, so does a cookie sheet.)  Once all the coconut mixture has been formed into balls, stick your finger in the middle of the ball and make a depression (the balls will flatten a bit, but that is just fine.)

Melt your chocolate over a double boiler until it is melted (or risk it in the microwave - but be careful not to heat too high or you will bind your chocolate.)  Use a small spoon to scoop a small bit of the chocolate into the depression in each coconut ball. 

If you like, sprinkle nuts over your balls.  And now they are ready to eat!

Store in a container at room temperature.  They are best fresh, but they stay good for a while.  (I honestly don't know how long they stay good because they don't last more than a few days at my house.)

Yummy, Coconut Joys!

Smelling like a Rose

Girls always remember their pearls!

So fans, I have secretly been conducting scientific experiments on myself. 

Before you start worrying that I have joined BBC's Dr. Michael Mosley (or Dr. Jekyll for that matter), let me reassure you that my experiment was benign (benign is my daily calendar word of the day - used it!)

Anyway, it started about two months ago when I purchased a book from the 'almost free' table at B&N, Vinegar: 1001 Practical Uses, by Margaret Briggs (don't judge, look at the red caption at the bottom of the pic... "Over 400,000 copies sold.")


Margaret, where ever you are, you are brilliant!  I love your book.  I display it proudly in my kitchen. 

Anyway, back to my story.  I have to admit that I am/was already a (closet) vinegar fan.  I use it to wash my tile floors (I have dogs, and the slight acidity makes me feel as if I am really getting them clean, without harsh chemicals or contributing to the overuse of antibiotics), clean my coffee pot, shine up my hair, and much more (get the book if you don't already know these tricks.)  So, as I poured through the book (pun intended) and found additional uses for vinegar, I was in nirvana.  Then, page 118.  I mean, wow.  What a revelation.  Apparently, gals, you can use white vinegar as a deodorant.  Well, I was already a vinegar fan.  So, I decided to give it a try.

I got a small container with a lid (it's an old sugar container that I was not using) and poured some white vinegar in it and promptly took it upstairs.  I started my experiment on a Saturday morning feeling that it was probably best to not run a public experiment. 

Well, ladies, it worked!  It works, and it works better than the off-the-shelf product I was buying (which, by the way, was the super expensive "prescription grade protection.") 

I know.  You have questions; you have doubts.  So, let me give you a rundown of what I found:

• The experience is different but not unpleasent
• It goes on wet (like the old roller type deodorants), so let it dry before you dress
• The vinegar smell only lasts as long as the vinegar is wet.
• Once it drys you are good to go
• If you shaved recently, be prepared for a bit of a sting.
• It's not really bad, but you will notice
• It is effective for the whole day
• I certainly can't say the same for those expensive sticks I was buying
• Make sure you get coverage.  
• You don't have to soak in it, but spread it the same way you do your stick deodorant.
• Don't dab a micro-gram of vinegar on your pit and think that will work. 
• It will not stop sweating
• If that is your big concern, vinegar won't do the job

So now, I am one step closer to becoming a total granola head!  But, I don't care.  Vinegar rocks.  Try it.  Let me know what you think.

The Muppet Show Singers - "Why Can't We Be Friends"

Crap is still crap ... even when you get it cheap.

Well, fans, it's been a busy day.  I hit just about every junk store in MD today.  And am I tired! 


So much stuff; so little ... trunk space.  And the deals were fantastic!

I found all kinds of things that I didn't know I wanted ... until I saw someone else eying my prize.

So, I scooped up glassware, dishware... just any wares I could find.

Missing some pieces, a little broke here and there ... no problem.

Right!   Right?  Wrong.

I have so many projects in my shed, I'm thinking of buying a new shed - just so I can start fresh.

I have wobbly tables, random old doors, mirrors - mirrors - mirrors (what does it mean when I keep buying mirrors, but never bring them into the house?), dressers, old stone sinks (why?  why buy an old stone sink?  well, i have two), cabinets - oh, i bought shelving so i had somewhere to put all the paint i bought.  I have a lamp that will someday be a birdbath, a bottle that will someday be a lamp.

I have old bricks and lots of bracs.  I find myself collecting depression glass - the colors make me happy.  I buy pictures and pitchers.  So far I have found Picasso's lost Don Quixote (not); a brilliant work by an (apparently totally) unknown watercolor painter; amazing 1770s tavern pewter (made in the 1970s); vintage side tables (made in china); and china (made in Taiwan.)

I bought a huge Dresden porcelain monstrosity for $40 ... that turned out to be a Dresben monstrosity worth $2.33.

And, today, what did I add to my growing collection of curiosities?

• a mirror
• two wobbly tables
• a picture of a deer
• depression glass
• and a vase that reminds me of one my grandmother had when I was young 

I hated that vase!  It was ugly.  It still is ugly.

But when you find a piece of your history, sitting in a wonky shop, with a $1.99 price tag, you don't walk by.  You pick it up and put it in your cart because it makes you smile.

You buy it, and you remember!

I miss you Nana.