sweet potato pie and i shut my mouth

i thought i had christmas all planned out this year...however i am behind as usual.  and as i write all these last minute posts, i realize that this has been a whirlwind of a week!  so if you are like me and need something to take into the office tomorrow, or to grannys house this weekend try this: sweet potato bread.  easy as pie and pretty delish.  i used this recipe, (just kidding, i used this one, but that is the best song ever) it calls for like 2 things, the only thing youll probably need to go to the store for is the sweet potatoes or yams.  also to give it something extra. i used about 2 teaspoons of the juice from a clementine and mixed it with about 2 to 3 tablespoons powdered sugar to make a pretty thin glaze.  once the bread comes out of the oven immediately pour the glaze over the bread and let harded. yum! (you could use an orange, orange juice or even water for the liquid in the glaze). one more thing, the bread may need an extra 15-20 minutes, i baked mine for an hour and ten minutes and it could have used an extra ten.  

best christmas song ever :)

LAST minute gifts!

with all the hype over pinterest and diy projects this year, i thought it was about time i made one.  this lemon scrub is the EASIEST thing to make--in terms of time and ingredients.  the recipe i used called for sea salt but i decided to use mostly kosher salt.  kosher salt is a much larger grain of salt than sea salt so the one i made is probs best for feet or elbows.  using sea salt would make a better scrub for legs.  i used about a 3 to 1 ratio of kosher to sea salt in this recipe. to make the scrub all you need is:

kosher or sea salt (or both)

a few lemons

olive oil

rosemary, optional

in a large bowl put 5 tablespoons of kosher salt. coat with a tablespoon of olive oil. once well combined squeeze half of the lemon over the mixture, and stir together.  i made probably about 7 times this much.  its best if you figure out how much you are going to need to make first that way you can mix all the salt and oil together first.  the recipe i followed said mixing the oil and salt first keeps the salt from dissolving.  a point about mixing the salts: i did about 25 tablespoons of kosher to about 15 tablespoons of sea salt (using a big box of kosher and a tall canister of sea salt) if that makes sense.  just test out the recipe as you go along, so that you get the consistency you want.  and there you go: a very last minute, but very cute, christmas gift.

oh, and if you want to: as i filled my containers (use any size you like, mine are from ikea) when they were filled half way i added a piece of rosemary and then continued filling.  i would say these will last a couple weeks, when refrigerated. 

Merry Christmas!