If you’re feeling that your imagination regarding Easter dessert menu is not giving you the best ideas ever, here is what you might want to try. This cookies recipe is easy to prepare and could be a great treat for your family, friends and kids on Easter Day.
You’ll need:
*2 cups all-purpose flour
*8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate morsels
*4-5 eggs
*1 cup granulated sugar
*1 teaspoon orange extract
*1 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1 tablespoon orange peel
*1 cup unsalted melted butter
*powdered sugar
*oval or egg-shaped madeleine baking pans
Combine flour and 1 cup morsels in a medium bowl. Beat eggs in a large mixer bowl. Add the granulated sugar, orange peel, vanilla and orange extract. Add flour mixture and butter alternately into egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Preheat oven to 350 ÌŠF. Grease and flour the madeleine baking pans.
With a tablespoon pour the batter into each prepared mold. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let them cool in pans for 2 minutes then with the tip of a knife release onto wire racks. While still warm, sprinkle the cookies very lightly with powdered sugar and let them cool completely.
Wash the pans and repeat the action with the remaining batter.
Microwave the remaining morsels until smooth. Cut a small hole in corner of a plastic food storage bag, pour inside the smooth chocolate paste and squeeze to drizzle over egg-shaped cookies.
Allow chocolate to cool before serving. Enjoy it!
Traditionally, with the New Year’s Day approaching, people become more superstitious when it comes to luck. All around the globe there are so many traditions and customs that are supposed to bring good luck to folks. Many persons believe strongly in these good luck-bringing customs and they never forget to repeat them year after year. Here are some of these actualized good luck traditions. Hope to bring you good luck!
An interesting good luck custom is to eat fish specialties at the New Year’s Eve Party! It is said that you’ll swim through the New Year like a fish. You will be able to move smoothly and easily and go beyond obstacles with facility in the New Year.
At midnight, between the year ready to conclude and the one to follow, make sure you have some money in your pocket or purse. If the New Year finds you with money in your pocket, you’ll not miss them in the year to come.
Another good luck custom is to wear something new on New Year’s Eve. You don’t have to buy the entire outfit for the New Year’s Eve Party; it’s enough to have one new item. The proper way to welcome the New Year is by wearing something new.
The Dutch are eating donuts on New Year’s Day. They say donuts bring fortune because they have the shape of the ring, which symbolizes the full circle, the year’s cycle. If you don’t want donuts as New Year treat, you can try any ring-shaped food, like onion rings for example.
Make sure you have a bell in your proximity to announce the New Year. It’s a proper way to welcome the New Year and, guess what, it will bring you fortune.
Be aware at the first visitor on New Year’s Day! He or she would bring either good luck or bad luck. It is said that if the first person who visit is a tall, dark-haired man, he will bring good luck to the house and hosts.
It’s a very well-known New Year’s custom to make a lot of noise by organizing fireworks, confetti showers and striking crackers on the night between years. This way, it is said that the old year is getting scared and runs away, making room for the new one. So, be noisy on New Year’s Eve, scare away the concluded year and prepare yourself for the beginning of a lucky one!
You’re invited to a Christmas dinner or cocktail party. Awesome! All the possible questions come suddenly into your mind: “what should I wear?â€, “what should I bring?†and so on. Here are some easy and helpful ideas in case you have those intriguing questions in mind.
Be very careful how late you intend to be! If it’s a cocktail party be 10-15 minutes late; for dinner you can be 10 to 20 minutes late. Never be more than 25 minutes late!
Bring something! If you’ve been told from the beginning what to bring, half of the job is already done. If you have no idea what to bring, buy some wine for dinner, fancy chocolate or a bottle of fruit liqueur for dessert.
Pay attention to the people you’re sitting next to! Remember their names if you’ve just met them, be open and communicative to them. Nothing is more annoying than an unwilling person sitting next to you, right? Remember that!
Don’t use your cell phone during the dinner. Be prepared to close it when the dinner starts, otherwise, in case of ringing, you’ll capture all the attention and the annoyed faces.
If you see an agitated host, offer your help. You might be refused, but you have the advantage of asking.
Don’t stay too long or leave too early. If you forget to leave, your host might begin to yawn or do the dishes, which, by the way, it’s not a good sign. By opposition, if you leave too early you might generate a mass exodus, which is not good either. So, you don’t want to be the first or the last to exit the party.
Thank your host the next morning. It’s such a lovely gesture and doesn’t need so much effort from you. Be sure you call and thank for the nice dinner party. An e-mail with thoughtful words always works. And if you want to be more authentic, send a thanks note or a lovely bouquet of flowers.
Although many countries celebrate New Year on the same day, each one of them has its own traditional way and its customs. These local traditions differ a lot from a country to another. There are common customs and these include visiting family and friends, attending religious services, giving gifts, making noise with bells and horns or attending New Year’s parades.
If you want to know more about New Year’s traditions of various parts of the world, here are some of them that might call your attention.
The New Year in Japan is the most important holiday of the year and symbolizes the renewal. The problems and difficulties from the past year are forgotten and the preparations for the new one begin. At the midnight between years, Buddhist temples strike their gongs 108 times for 108 different types of human weakness.
In Spain the New Year’s ritual consists in eating twelve grapes at midnight. When others drink champagne, the Spanish are eating grapes because it is said that one who eat twelve grapes will be safe and happy twelve months in the coming year.
In Greece for New Year it’s baked a cake with a silver or gold coin inside and who finds the coin in the piece of cake, will be very lucky during the year to come.
Romanian children, dressed in traditional costumes sing Plugusorul, a Romanian traditional song, which is accompanied by bells and bull sounds. In their song, the children wish good luck, happiness and success. The noise that they are making it’s meant to purge the old year and welcome the new one.
The Chinese New Year begins between January 21 an February 20 and the celebrations last four days. On the last night, people dress as dragons and are frightening and delighting the children.
British Columbia, Canada has a traditional polar bear swim, where courageous people wearing only their swimming suits plunge into the icy water.
The children from Belgium write to their parents New Year’s messages on decorated paper and read them to their families on New Year’s Day.
In United States many people gather in Times Square in New York City and in other big cities’ public places. At midnight confetti flow, bells ring, firecrackers explode and everyone yells “Happy New Year!†People drink champagne and sing Auld Lang Syne, which is the most sung song for English-speakers from all over the world on New Year’s Eve.
Let’s face it, the nature gives us the most amazingly things, why turn back on such a special and inexpensive treat? Forget about the plastic decorations, it’s time to go green and celebrate this Christmas in a more original and nature friendly way.
A living Christmas tree will bring warmth into your home and soul. Don’t think twice, buy a pottered tree! You can decorate it every year, it’s a long term investment and you can always plant it in your backyard. You will have the happiest Christmas tree ever.
Use natural table decorations, like pine tree cones. Arrange them in a nice wattle basket, in a table wreath, around Christmas natural candles or in a transparent glass bowl. You can spread several hip roses for a playful color delight. It would be a great arrangement for your Christmas dinner.
Decorate your home for this special holiday with seasonal plants, like poinsettias or any other you like. They will be such a joy for the eye and heart. Be careful where you expose the plants and how much water you use to moisture the sole.
Use several little spruce or pine branches to decorate the Christmas Day table. You can arrange them in the middle of every plate on the festive napkin. It will give a great sense of occasion and a magnificent fresh winter aroma.
Choose natural tree decorations, like painted cones, recyclable cotton or paper ribbons, stars, nuts in shells and mini red apples.
Use candles made with natural fragrances to give your home the special season’s flavor. Use spruce, gingerbread, cinnamon, cranberry or apple fragrances.
Welcome the caroling singers with homemade goodies, like gingerbread and cinnamon cookies, caramelized apples and hot beverages.
Have a Natural Green Christmas!
It is not long until the holidays fever will overcome all of us. As much as we promised ourselves last year that the next one we’ll be more organized regarding Christmas presents, well, we all know that New Year’s Resolutions cannot be always kept. But this Christmas, you can make sure that you offer the gifts that will make people happy. Here are some ideas you might find interesting.
1.   Pay attention to everyone wishes. If you have no idea whatsoever what the ones you love want for Christmas, here are some ideas that always work. For him- a nice watch; for her- a beautiful jewelry; for the little boy- a train or airplane toy; for the little girl- a little puppy (you can always adopt one from a local animal shelter); for mother- a gardening book; for father- a leather wallet; for grandma- a nice tablecloth; for grandpa- warm sleepers; for aunt- a martini set and for uncle- a wireless weather station.
2.   You don’t want to declare yourself bankrupt after this Christmas but still want to offer gifts to friends and colleagues. You can find amazing convenient things and satisfy everyone, including you. Think of scented candles, cosmetic samples, nice Christmas soap bars, CD-s with caroling songs, picture frames for women and wine opener, corkscrew set, car compass, documentary DVD-s, a flask set or a mini digital camera for men.
3.    If you decide to give your boss a Christmas present, you have to invest a little more money. A bottle of old scotches or bourbon will bring smile on his face and if your boss is a woman, an expensive new perfume will be perfect. You can always involve your colleagues to gather money to buy the perfect gift for your boss.
4.   Christmas is also the time of year when people help other people in need. So, don’t turn your back on this special and holly moment of the year. Make a donation, even a few bucks. Offer food or clothes that you don’t need any more to collectable centers. What is insignificant to you, might be a ray of light to others.
5.    You don’t need much help in finding something yummy or funny as Christmas gift for your pet. Your dog might be in need of a new collar or toy, your cat might enjoy purring on a new pillow, your parrot might like a honey seed bar and your ferret might like a nice tiny crocheted coat.
Hopefully everybody will be happy!
Have a Merry, Merry Christmas!
Thanksgiving is a traditional North American Holiday when people give thanks at the finish of the harvest season. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and it’s a four day weekend. Families and friends are gathering together to celebrate the day of thanks with a festive dinner. Thanksgiving meals are traditionally events; therefore, certain kinds of food are served. The most important peace is the turkey, which is arranged in the middle of the table. All around it accompany stuffing, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes with gravy, cranberry sauce, corn and for dessert pumpkin pie, apple pie and pecan pie. The traditional beverages are apple cider, red wine and cocktails before dinner.
Thanksgiving is the time when people forgive, offer more, try to find love and peace in their hearts, thank God for His kindness and love. Thanksgiving is the time when people find warmth and joy, is the time when they are grateful for their lives the way they are.
Everyone is preparing now for the incoming holiday of the season. It’s that time of the year when family and close friends are gathering to celebrate Thanksgiving. The stores are already full with all sorts of decorations, dishware, candles and seasonal flowers. Maybe this year you want to be more simplistic and authentic. If you want to try some of the following ideas, be prepared to surprise your invitees with creativity and originality.Â
Nowadays we all go green, right? Are you ready for organic decorations as well? Good! Pick some of those festive iconic pumpkins in small and medium sizes. Use different colors of them for diversity and the joy of playing with colors. Arrange them on the table;Â they’ll make a great seasonal image.
Another great idea is to spread some autumn leaves on the table or arrange them in a nice fall bouquet. Autumn leaves are the great season’s inspiration, beside pumpkins. So, get inspirational with them.
Use some branches and twigs to decorate the table. You can pick all kinds of them; just choose the ones you like. Among them put some high transparent glass vases with candles inside. You’ll create a splendid rustic scene with beautiful lights and shadows.
All kinds of nuts in shelves can be found in stores this period of year. Buy combined nuts and arrange them in a wattle basket. You can mingle among them red fresh apples. It’s a great combination and an original decoration for your Thanksgiving dinner.
Now that you got inspired, it’s time to get to work and gather all the elements you’ve found interesting. I wish you an inspiring Thanksgiving!Â
Halloween is right around the corner. It’s such a popular and appreciated holiday nowadays. Everybody is looking for a costume and for the most popular yard decorations, like Jack-O’-Lanterns, scarecrows, witches, orange string lights. Nobody can get tired of the traditional Halloween activities. But beside trick or treat, costume parties or viewing horror movies you can spice up your party with some scary games that will make your guests remember your Halloween gathering forever. Interested? Boohoo!
Quija board is a game board, covered with alphabet and numbers. The players ask questions which are answered when a triangular pointer moves to letters or numbers on the board. This game is very suited for Halloween night, when the spirits can make contact with the physical world. But be careful, you know that a simple board cannot answer questions, so prepare yourself for an interesting experience! Spooky…
Magic: the gathering is a perfect card game for the Halloween, when the magic is so strong. The cards of this game are colored in five colors of magic: red, green, blue, white and black. Playing the game introduces players to some spooky images and the players assume the role of sorcerers, using their magic.
The Tarot, although is a deck of cards, it is not played as a card game. The cards are used for divination, for obtaining information through supernatural forces. They are colorful with images that can be interpreted.
Another interesting frightening game is telling or inventing scary occurrences. You and your friends can gather in a room where the atmosphere is suited for a Halloween night (Jack-O’-Lanterns, spooky background music, ready for drink bloody-maries). You will be impressed by how spooky this game can be. Everybody has an interesting unreal story or a strange supernatural experience.
Unsatisfied? Here is one more. Write on small pieces of paper the name of several scary personages (such as Frankenstein, Cruela, Dracula), fold them and put them into a bowl. Every player has to take one and interpret by miming the character until the others guess who the personage is. This game beside its spooky feature has a humorous one as well.
Be very careful with these games! If you’re not a courageous person, you better don’t play them! You might have some unexpected and inexplicable experiences. So, be prepared!
Have the spookiest Halloween ever!