Giddy-Up Friday: Orange You Glad I Didn't Say Apple

This weeks Giddy-Up Friday is all because Edible Wednesday got me thinking about oranges. It's the perfect color for the fall season and it's the perfect smell, cleansing and invigorating. Paired with cloves as in Russian Tea, it's a whole new experience. This would actually be called a Pomander, but I am not adding all the extra spices or oil for preserving.

My girls have a special bookcase in the craft room for their "works" (the Montessori word for activities). One of the works uses styrofoam balls, ball top pins and flower sequins. As soon as they were "old" enough, they were allowed to take the balls, 'thread' a few flower sequins on the pin, and poke the pin into the ball. Once the ball was totally covered with sequins, it becomes a beautiful ornament or decoration.

Making a pomander would be the step before using pins. It can help develop a child's fine motor skills and dexterity. I imagine allowing my girls to do this project once again the day before Thanksgiving, so we might have some beautiful table decorations.

Supplies Needed:
Oranges and Whole Cloves. Tooth picks will help break open the skin of the orange so the cloves don't break.

Directions:
After laying down a work space, give your child a toothpick with one end blunt to avoid injuries. Poke a small hole in the orange and insert whole clove. Be gentle with the flower of the clove, it will break easily under pressure. Continue the process to have as many cloves in the orange as you'd like. Really the only thing to decide, is pattern or no pattern! To use as table decorations, add a ribbon to the top and use a pin to hold the ribbon in place. To use for seating arrangements, make name cards, glue to a toothpick and insert toothpick into the top of the orange.

This won't be just for kids - it's too much fun and it smells amazing! I'm not sure how long these will last. Beware of fruit flies for those of you in warmer climates still. (I heard Apple Cider Vinegar in a small dish helps rid of those pesky things).

As your child becomes more comfortable with this activity, allow them to try making sequin covered styrofoam balls. Have fun! And have a great weekend! See you on Busy Monday. k

Edible Wednesday: Cherry Salad

Cherry Salad - two words you might think don't belong together, make my heart sing!

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This recipe has been in our family for as long as I can remember. Every year for Thanksgiving and Christmas it would sit right on our dinner plates next to the turkey and mashed potatoes and gravy! Oh - no folks - it's not for dessert!!! It's part of dinner. I know that sounds crazy, but I think we all just couldn't wait for it and wanted to make sure we had some before our stomachs were full or overflowing! We didn't care much for the pies and ice cream! Thanksgiving and Christmas just weren't the same without Cherry Salad! I'm sure there was some justification on our parts because it had the word "Salad" in the title....but I can assure you, you've never had a salad like this!

So - without further adieu, here are the ingredients you will need:

1 can - Cherry pie filling (usually only comes as 24oz)
2/3 can of Sweetened Condensed Milk (usually only comes as 14 oz) (I use it all!)
1 can of Crushed Pineapple (usually only comes as 8 oz)
2/3 bag Mini Marshmallows
1 cup Chopped Pecans (optional)
16-24oz Cool Whip (personal preference richer flavor or stretch for more people)
You will need a large mixing Bowl and a spoon and a spatula (both for licking clean when finished)!

First, completely drain the crushed pineapple. I've tried this a few ways. The best way I have found is using a small wire mesh strainer and a spatula and pushing all the juice into a cup or bowl (to drink or discard). The more juice you drain the better or else it will cause separation. (Of course if you have Pineapple allergies - you can omit this ingredient too!)

Next combine all the ingredients except the cool whip and the cherry pie filling. Make sure to mix well. Then fold in the cherry pie filling and then fold in the Cool Whip. I say fold, because you don't want to crush all the cherries, and you don't want to flatten the cool whip.

The best way to eat it is to let it sit overnight. I personally cannot wait that long so I enjoy a little bowl right away and of course lick the spoons. If you are strong and let it sit overnight the marshmallows will absorb the juices and melt in your mouth. If you don't want to use all of it at right away, you can put some back into your cool whip containers and freeze them! This little trick was a whole new concept to my mom. I guess we ate it up too quickly to ever have any leftovers to freeze and scoop like ice cream! I hope you will give this recipe a try. And if you do, I hope you'll come back and drop a comment here letting me know what you thought!

Thanks! Kerry

ps...A very good friend of mine is very much Gluten free and LOVES this stuff. So if you are Gluten free too, and you check all your ingredients, enjoy!

EDIT:

Hello Pinterest lovers! I wanted to give a little shout out and say thank you for all the comments and love and pins...this post is currently at 450K + pins and I'm in shock! I've seen a lot of new blog posts popping up around the internet with this recipe and variations of it. Please be sure you are not copying my recipe and posting it as your own. I know it's not "original" but as seen in the comments below - you can tell we all have the ratios a bit different from how we grew up with it since the late 70's. If you'd like to share the recipe on your site - please only provide the link and not the recipe. 

Thank you again for all the love! Please visit some of my other commonly pinned sewing tutorials - the Modular Star, Flower Pins, Mini Tent, Grass Picnic Blanket and the Scrappy Owl. Come chat with me on Facebook and see a little bit of my world through Instagram!