Thinking Green

5 Low Cost Big Impact DIY Branch Centerpieces

Bare trees can be so magical, especially en masse. Check out these ideas on "branching out"  with bare branches...via Apartment Therapy

Through My Lens - Wordless Wednesday

 

Heart rock # 8 by Denise Dion-Sullivan

Monday Musings

A little post Christmas Humor:

Have a great week!

Reflections

Mosaic by  Sonia King

There are very few human beings who receive the truth, complete and staggering, by instant illumination. Most of them acquire it fragment by fragment, on a small scale, by successive developments, cellularly, like a laborious mosaic.  Anais Nin

A very Merry Christmas to all my Blogger Friends!

Thinking Green

Have a Green Christmas

Do you know that Americans throw away 25 percent more trash or about 1 million extra tons each week during the Thanksgiving to New Year's holiday period? In fact, about 38,000 miles of ribbon are tossed out each year which apparently is enough to tie a bow around the Earth. (information posted from website  Earth911)!  Lets all try to reduce waste by following some of these simple holiday tips:

For Dinner Preparations:

• Buy baking goods and snack food in bulk.
• Plan meals wisely practicing portion control to minimize waste.
• After a big dinner, you'll have leftovers galore. Plan for leftovers in advance.
• Pack and send leftovers to local food banks or charities.
• Compost your food waste. Fruits and vegetables and their peels, pits, and seeds are perfect for composting.
• Don't use paper products for all your Holiday Parties.
• Cut up last year's holiday cards and use in next years Holiday decorating.
• Place recycling containers at your celebration so guests can recycle their cans and bottles.

Shopping for the Holidays:

• Send electronic greeting cards (I use Jacquie Lawson).
• As you shop, place your purchases into your own cloth or canvas shopping bags.
• When ordering online, request that items be shipped together.
• Use shredded paper, newspaper or  even candy instead of conventional packing "peanuts".
• Recycle foam "peanuts" at a local drop-off or buy-back recycling center. For a location near you, call 1(800)CLEANUP, a service provided by Earth 911.
• Buy rechargeable batteries to accompany your electronic gifts.
• Find out how to recycle your old cell phones at www.recyclewirelessphones.com

For Gift Wrapping:

• Purchase recycled wrapping paper and avoid metallic colored wrapping paper which cannot be recycled.
• Purchase cloth ribbon that can be reused year after year since most ribbon cannot be recycled or nix the ribbon altogether.
• Give a present in a present (for example, a hat in a matching scarf, jewelry in a wooden box, cookies in a reusable tin or cookie jar, barbecue grill utensils or picnic supplies in a tablecloth, kitchen gifts in an oven mitt or kitchen towel).
• Have your children create personalized wrapping paper by decorating reused brown paper grocery bags with drawings, stickers, or even stamps.
• Reuse last year's holiday cards for gift tags or write your greeting on the box.

For Decorations:

• Use trimmed branches from your yard for decorating around the home or making wreaths.
• Use reusable glass icicles instead of disposable tinsel. 
• Reuse your tin cans as luminaries.

After Opening Your Presents:

• Donate old appliances, toys, games, or clothing, to local charity or thrift store.
• Use leftover gift wrap to line shelves and dresser drawers.

 For the New Year:

• Do something "green" for your New Year's resolution, such as using reusable cloth shopping bags, switching to compact fluorescent lights to save energy, planting a tree, etc. Visit the website www.reduce.org for ideas on furthering reducing your Holiday waste or for making greener choices in the coming New Year!

For Your Christmas Trees:

• Approximately 33 million live Christmas trees are sold in North America every year. Recycle your Christmas trees by contacting your city recycling coordinator.

Through My Lens - Wordless Wednesday

Heart Rock Series #7 - Denise Dion-Sullivan

Monday Musings

Ever wondered how much it would cost to give your true love 12 days of Christmas gifts? Try $96,824.29. For 27 years, PNC Bank has researched the price of every item in this beloved carol. In 2010, they present the results in a charming, colorful, and interactive pop-up book. Click on the photo below to be taken to this years video.

 

Prices for 2010 of items in the Christmas carol “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” according to PNC Wealth Management:

• Partridge, $12 (last year: $10)

• Pear Tree, $150 (last year: same)

• Two Turtle Doves, $100 (last year: $56)

• Three French Hens, $150 (last year: $45)

• Four Calling Birds (canaries), $600 (last year: same)

• Five Gold Rings, $650 (last year: $500)

• Six Geese a-Laying, $150 (last year: same)

• Seven Swans a-Swimming, $5,600 (last year: $5,250)

• Eight Maids a-Milking, $58 (last year: same)

• Nine Ladies Dancing (per performance), $6,294 (last year: $5,473)

• 10 Lords a-Leaping (per performance), $4,767 (last year: $4,414)

• 11 Pipers Piping (per performance), $2,356 (last year: $2,285)

• 12 Drummers Drumming (per performance), $2,553 (last year: $2,475)

Réveillon de Noël

It is our Annual Réveillon Family Celebration today. I will share another recipe for Tourtière - a French-Canadian Réveillon staple. This recipe is from Saveur magazine (issue #47):

Pork Pie

Crust:
2 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 tsp. white vinegar
2 tbsp. heavy cream

The Filling:
2 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 lb. ground pork
1 small white onion, peeled and chopped
1.  For the crust: Sift together flour and salt into a bowl, and add to flour mixture, stirring with a fork until dough just begins to hold together. Transfer  dough to a lightly floured surface, and knead several times with the heel of your hand. Divide dough in half, shape into 2 flat discs, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

2. For the filling: Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add meat and onions, and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until juices have evaporated, about 15 minutes. Add milk, and cook until evaporated, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat; add potato and quatre-épices, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside to cool completely.

3. Preheat oven to 400º. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into two 11'' rounds. Fit 1 round into a 9'' glass pie plate. Fill pastry bottom with meat filling. Cover with remaining pastry round. Fold edges of dough under, and crimp edges. Brush top with cream. Make several slits in top of pastry to allow steam to escape. Bake until pie is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Set aside to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Thinking Green - Alternative Christmas Tree

Lack of space in your home or apartment?  Here is a very creative Holiday idea for those with lack of space or others who want to forgo the traditional Christmas tree this year. via Apartment Therapy.

Through My Lens - Wordless Wednesday

Heart Rock Series #6 - Denise Dion-Sullivan

Monday Musings

Giam Living has great Christmas gifts for those that love unique, fair trade and earth friendly gifts. Click here to visit their website via Gaiam Living:

Balance Ball Chair:

Patchwork Silk Robe:

Reflections

The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page. ~ St Augustine

Thinking Green

Trade the plastic bubble wrap or styrofoam peanuts for peppermints. Use candy canes for colorful and safe padding in all your holiday shipments. Read more about clever wrapping ideas via countryliving.com/giftwrap.

Through My Lens - Wordless Wednesday

Heart Rock Series #5 - Denise Dion-Sullivan

Monday Musings

Zen humor for Monday Morning:

Reflections

"There is no way to peace. Peace is the way." A.J. Muste
photo by Denise Dion-Sullivan

Thinking Green - DIY Pillow Box

Green Wrapping: DIY Cardboard Pillow Box:

Have you taken the Buy Handmade challenge this year? Check out this green post on turning a cereal box into an eco-friendly pillow gift box via greenupgrader.com

World AIDS Day

Since the 1st December 1988, World AIDS Day has been about raising money, increasing awareness, fighting prejudice and improving education. The World AIDS Day theme for 2010 is 'Universal Access and Human Rights'. World AIDS Day is important for reminding people that HIV has not gone away, and that there are many things still to be done.  According to UNAIDS estimates, there are now 33.3 million people living with HIV, including 2.5 million children. During 2009 some 2.6 million people became newly infected with the virus and an estimated 1.8 million people died from AIDS.¹ 

Today communities and cities all over the world will dim the lights to mark World AIDS Day as part of the Light for Rights campaign. LIght for Rights focuses on human rights, HIV and AIDS.

read more about it via World AIDS Day 2010.