EASY DIY Christmas Basket Add-Ins: Dried Fruit and Spice Simmer Pot Pouches

One of the easiest DIY add-ins to any Christmas basket is a fun and festive Christmas Simmer Pot filled with dried fruit and spice.

Here's the recipe I used to make mine this year that has all the same ingredients I use in my Hot Wassail that simmers in the crockpot all day on Christmas eve.

3 orange slices, dried

6 apple slices, dried

6 whole cloves

2 cinnamon sticks

1 T cranberries, chopped & dried

1 sprig dried pine or rosemary (optional)

Pour the entire contents into a small pot with 3 cups of hot water. Let simmer over low heat. Add more water as needed.

This recipe is kitchen tested, and it works really well for a 6+ hour stove top simmer.  You can also remove from heat at the end of a day's use, let cool and use the next day.  2 days is the longest recommended use for optimum scent infusion. 

Status Report: December 2024 - Final Post of The Year!

After the festive Christmas rush of activity it's quiet again, and time for the last status report of the year. I like status reports - they're mini versions of blog posts & rando thoughts all wrapped up into one. So, here we are:

Been busy with: all the Christmas things.  From decorating to shopping, baking to basket filling and everything in-between. Somehow this year December came out of nowhere and Christmas was here long before I was mentally ready. Even with all that, there was plenty of laughter, lots of great food and I'm blessed that almost all of my people were able to be here with family this year. 

Contemplating: Writing out the story of Mrs. Dudley. Who exactly is Mrs. Dudley, you ask?  Yes, well she's among the top 3 most profoundly, godly, influential women in my life in my 60 years on this earth. It's always felt like her story needed to be told, for some reason. I have her name on my project list and it keeps staring at me. 😎

Feeling: nostalgic about Oregon. My twitter friend Beth humorously commented recently that "Oregon is home to Tillamook cheese and Bigfoot".  Well, yes. This is truth. But immediately my brain said: "And the Vortex, and the Sea Lion Caves, and Wildlife Safari, and the Dunes and mom's old house on the Umpqua River and all those amazing things." 😂

My family spent so much time there over the years it's really like a 2nd home vibe for me. I spent a lot of time there as a kid, then as an adult I've been blessed to take all my kids there too & relive some of the amazing adventures that we went on as kids. 

Oregon is a fantastic place to visit and explore. Highly recommend 5/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😊

Thinking: How incredibly enjoyable it is to actually have my very own "pretend" wildlife documentary show. I know it sounds funny and it really is, but with the technology of my simple little Ring spotlight cams and a free video editor I can document the urban wildlife in my very own backyard. It's also partly funny because 'wildlife photographer' was sort of my dream job if I ever had to pick.  

I'm often quite surprised by what I see on the cameras each day and until I actually had cams installed, I had no idea my back garden was as busy as it is at night. If you're curious and haven't watched, my wee little channel is Barefoot in the Garden on YT. So funny how 1 security cam turned into 3 wildlife food/drink camera stations around the back garden and pond. 😁  

Re-evaluating: My garden layout & plans for 2025. Nothing on paper (yet) but some big ideas. In my ongoing effort to refine what I'm growing and where, it's more of a simplified garden layout this year than it's ever been before, and I'm really looking forward to that.  

This will only be my 6th year of attempting to grow my own produce section of the grocery store 😄 and now after several trials and errors over many seasons, I know what grows well for me, what doesn't, and what I have room for. This year, I'm also leaning heavily into more perennial fruits to add to the ones I added last year. No such thing as too many berries. 

And with that, this month's and this year's Status Update posts come to a close. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have an incredible, blessed and fantastic day. 😊

If you have any thoughts or questions, please feel welcome to leave a comment. 

Status Report: November 2024

Technically, this post will double as a short(er) version of my Social Media Comment Section that I haven't really bothered with since last summer. So, I'll just go ahead and add my disclaimer for that:

Because I've set a boundary for myself in my activity on social media to contribute nothing but encouragement (hopefully), I choose to not get involved in the comment sections there in what may be considered to be controversial issues. So this is my space for sharing some expounded thoughts on what I see there. 

Although to be honest, I have left a couple of comments here and there. In any event, on to the update:

Sitting: At my desk, with uncomfortably cold feet, giving side-eye to the dusting of snow I can see out my window. While I don't like to complain about the weather (God knows what He's doing with our seasonal changes) I also don't like the discomfort of cold related pain all winter. Some folks can't handle the heat, while other folks can't handle the cold. I'm the latter, and praise God for wool socks & heating pads. 😊

Been busy with: prepping & packing Christmas gift baskets going in the mail and going locally. Lots of goodies this year with freeze dried items, dehydrated & powdered items, and home canned items. Time got away from me this year and I didn't get the chance to experiment with homemade soaps, candles & lip balm as I had loosely planned for.  Those three DIY homemade projects will be on my list for learning & perfecting for next year's baskets - Lord willing. 

Re-evaluating: the entire layout of my walk-in pantry (also known as the back half of the laundry room).  I created it and built all the shelving during one of the many covid lockdowns, entirely with discarded lumber & shelving I had on hand.  It's never been pretty to look at, but it's been incredibly functional so I'm redesigning it with both elements in mind. I have a few sketches already done & a short list of materials made up and I'm hoping to get it started immediately after Christmas.  I'm planning on doing a before/during/after pictorial series on the project with simple tips & tricks on how to start one & keep one stocked for your family's needs. 

Feeling: Satisfied that I have finally been able to replace all seasonings, spices and spice blends from their plastic containers, into 36 wee glass 4 ounce Mason jars.  I loathe plastic, so I've been trying to get it out of my kitchen storage as much as possible.  All the left-over containers have been replaced with glass, and all of my bulk items such as flour & sugar have all been replaced as well.  All of my dried fruit snacks, dried veggies, honey blends, syrups, fruit & veggie powders, rice, herbs, nuts & seeds are in glass as well as the last of of the spices.  I'd be over the moon if I could replace all plastic with glass, but I'm happy with what I've been able to do so far. Funny thing is, it was Beth's post on twitter about how often you should replace your spices that reminded me that all my spice blends were next on the list to be replaced with glass jars. You just never know where your twitter posts will end up having an impact 😂

   

Thinking: Quite a lot about this quote I saw on social media recently:

"By God’s grace I have lived my whole life in community with other women who are jolly, and joyful, hardworking, kind, smart… and for the most part so busy with the things they love that they don’t care about the internet fussers." - Rachel Jankovic 

Several things stand out to me about this quote.  First, that there are women who have this testimony of being part of a faithful Christian community their entire lives.  I did not have that, and I love it so much that some women have had that. It's incredibly encouraging to me. In my own family, two of my grand daughters have been growing up in the same local church that both of their grandmothers are in. I can only hope and pray one day they both have a similar testimony as Rachel Jankovic.  

Secondly, the way she describes these women in her community: jolly, joyful, hardworking, kind & smart.  In our age of social interaction online being what it is, it's very very easy get drawn into this big deal or that big issue. But to be a woman described as jolly, joyful, hardworking, kind and smart, means these are the ladies who are directing their attention, energy & creativity to worthwhile things in their own homes or communities (both offline and online). If you'll notice, there are certain ladies on social media that you'll never see embroiled in any of this sort of thing. Never leaving unkind, catty, antagonistic comments. These are wise women.  This is an example I try very hard to pursue.  Which brings me to the third point she made in that quote that stands out to me, that also coincides with my next thought that falls into the category of the Social Media Comment Section. 

Wondering: If "internet fussers" is an accurate description of those who (while not exclusively, it's usually women leading the charge in this) also often tend to be involved in some type of internet "ministry" for lack of a better phrase, where the entire point of the ministry existing, is to point out all the things wrong with all the people they think are wrong, about, well, all the things. Or at the very least, supporting and promoting those ladies doing that.  If you've read this far, you probably just had someone come to mind. 

[Disclaimer: I'm partially qualified to write about this only because for a short time in 2005-06 I was part of a group of bloggers collating resources & articles of all the different leaders & churches that were part of the Emergent Church movement. Initially the goal was to educate on this new movement within Christian circles. After a short time, the goal shifted and I could no longer be a part of the group blog and it shut down shortly after. This was a few years before watchbloggers was even a thing, but our own blog was headed in that direction for sure.]

 

These folks usually have their "ministry" named after some variation of their own name like "The Carla Files" or named after the person or church they've targeted such as "Investigating Joe Heretic".  Back in the early days of blogging in the mid 2000's these folks were called "discernment bloggers" or "watchbloggers", a play on the phrase watch dog. Tim Challies wrote a really good article on this 10+ years ago: In The Crosshairs of the Discernment Bloggers that is still quite timely, as it describes the length some of these folks will go to even in 2024.  While blogging isn't the platform it used to be, this kind thing is definitely still around. They just use a different tool to get their messages out there: social media.  

When I read Rachel Jankovich's quote the part of about "internet fussers" really, stood out to me mostly because at one point, I would have been called one and it would have sadly been most accurate.  When I see a post from one of these folks now I always have to wonder... if they spent half the time in prayer asking God to reveal their own sinful opinions, attitudes and motives and helping them to overcome that and grow in grace, as they do pointing at other people, if they'd even have time left at the end of the day, to be an internet fusser?   

When the blog I was a part of began to shift from education to (graceless, uncharitable, antagonistic, argumentative, ugly, opinionated obnoxiousness) condemnation I had to ask myself the same (very uncomfortable) questions.  And because the answer was so painfully convicting, I knew I had no business being part of anything like that.  

I guess you can call this short thought-ramble "Confessions of a Former Internet Fusser". 😊 I sure don't have all the answers, but I know Who does, and humbling our hearts and seeking His guidance, wisdom and conviction is always the best way to begin finding those answers. 

And with that, this month's Status Update/Social Media Comment Section comes to a close. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have an incredible, blessed and fantastic day. 😊

If you have any thoughts or questions, please feel welcome to leave a comment. 

Status Report: October 2024

Yep, it's already November 2nd.  All of this still applied in October though, and I'm really running behind lately 😄 so here's how things are going...

SITTING: Indoors, where it's warm. That will be the way it is for the next 6 months at least. I'll jazz it up a little with "sitting inside and the woodstove is going" over the winter but that's as about as adventuresome as we'll get until next spring.  To save on heating costs, I'll be using wood a lot more this year and I'm looking forward to that. Home just feels more homey, heated with wood. 💖

BEEN BUSY WITH: Lots and lots of mulching leaves & covering all my raised beds & pathways, finishing putting summer things away, planting garlic (62 cloves went in today - to be harvested first week of July), moving the hot tub into the "winter spa" (aka, the garage) and getting that set up for the winter, and making lots and lots (and lots) of soup.  The last week of October has sort of become known as Soup Week around here.  Soup for dinner, soup for leftovers, soup to freeze and soup to freeze dry. I don't use a pressure canner but you could easily prep it this way as well, to stock up for the winter months. It's a really great way to use up all those veggies you've harvested all summer that are taking up freezer space. It's also a really good way to meal prep for the next few weeks and months where a hearty bown of homemade soup is on the menu on those chilly fall and winter days.  The last couple of weeks I've tucked away Cheesy Ham Chowder, Roasted Red Pepper Soup, Butternut Squash Soup, Loaded Baked Potato Soup & Creamy Tomato Soup. I think the young folks might call this "soup maxxing". 😊

FEELING: US presidential election fatigue. Big time.  I suspect everyone is feeling it, at least in part. Hoping for the best, either way. But I have to say, I'm not feeling very optimistic.  Since I believe God both raises up leaders and takes them down for His purposes and for His glory, and also ordains each leader put into place... I'm going to just keep reminding myself to trust in Him.  He knows what He's doing, even when we have no idea.

THINKING: about my grandpa McKinsey.  Tomorrow 11.03 would have been his 115th birthday. Ironically, my very first blog post at this blog (now archived) 20+ years ago, was all about my grandpa's ICU salvation story as told by my brother, a year before he passed & met Jesus face to face. I last saw him 32 years ago, a week before he left this earth. We joked about things like we always did, my kids ran over to him in his lazyboy chair and hugged him while he patted their wee heads then gave them each a piece of saltwater taffy candy he always seemed to magically produce from some bowl near his chair, and then we smiled as we left after a pleasant visit. One of the last things he said to me as we were leaving that day was that he decided he'd stick around at least until his birthday. He honored that and passed 6 days later. I will be forever grateful I have that last precious memory of my grandpa. 

LOOKING FORWARD TO: planning out Christmas baskets. Lots of kids, grandkids, in-laws, outlaws & jars of garden freshness to get all sorted out. From sauces, salsas, jams, jellies, fruits, pickled veggies & soups, there's a lot of goodies to get all organized in each family's basket. It's a labor of love I look forward to every year.  

PLANNING: I've had this machine for a little while now and I've been planning to do a review of it once I found out how it held up to mulching 80 trillion fall leaves. 40 trillion (more or less) from my neighbor's Sugar Maple that fall into my yard, and 40 trillion (probably) from my King Crimson Maple. The Autumn leaf fall is about 80% over now, and I've used the machine several times to both mow and mulch, so I think I have a pretty good idea on how well this Ryobi 13" Push Lawn Mower works.  

The stand-alone review will be coming soon, with all the good stuff you need to know before you buy one of these battery operated gizmos from Ryobi. 

Well that wraps up this month's status report (which is really good since I'm technically 2 days behind).  Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have an incredible, blessed and fantastic day. 😊

If you have any questions, please feel welcome to leave a comment.