Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Thanks for being this year with me,
Thanks for your effort ,
Thanks for your time and sharing attitude.
All the best for the coming year.




Wednesday, December 21, 2011

And..

Where is the food???

Well still waiting for some more of MY TEAM to come...

Just being patient but really a Happy Bunch



And now???? At El Cascajal

To the Best

Happy Time....

Offering my TEAM a Special Lunch...

Thanks for ALL...

Thanks for being with me one more year...

Wishing all your dreams come true

And looking forward for being with you this New 2012.

Your always Friend
Roxy



Last 2011 Plenary at Trilce

Same day same place...

Soon after the room was like this....

Thanks to the 32 teachers who shown up and were there to SHARE and OFFER



Being the Best

Thanks Guys....

The most PUNCTUAL of all my TEAM...

December 20th at 9.30am

At Trilce San Isidro



Thursday, December 15, 2011

Sugar Cookie Cutouts

Ingredients

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup (2 sticks)
unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions

1.- Sift flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl.

2.- Put butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Mix in eggs and vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk. Wrap each in plastic. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.

3.- Preheat oven to 325 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Let one disk of dough stand at room temperature just until soft enough to roll, about 10 minutes. Roll out dough between two pieces of plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thick. Remove top layer of plastic wrap. Cut out cookies with a 4-inch one-piece-shaped cookie cutter. To make an ornament, cut out a hole from the center of the neck about 1/4-inch from the edge using a straw. Transfer cookie dough on plastic wrap to a baking sheet. Transfer baking sheet to freezer, freeze until very firm, about 15 minutes. Remove baking sheet from freezer and transfer shapes to baking sheets lined with nonstick baking mats. Roll out scraps, and repeat. Repeat with remaining disk of dough.Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 to 18 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Christmas Tree Decorating Traditions

During the Christmas season it's wonderful to pass houses with majestic trees in the living room window all decked out in lights, garlands, and ornaments. Putting decorations on a Christmas tree is a time-honored tradition for most households, although Christmas tree decorating as we know it now didn't gain popularity in America until the late 19th century. Early decorations were mostly homemade ornaments and brightly dyed popcorn garlands, but today's decorations include everything from souvenir ornaments to vinyl records and -- of course -- lots of twinkling lights.




Take it or Leave it

Take it or Leave but
then don't REGRET...!!!



Saturday, December 10, 2011

Christmas Recycling - Make Earth Friendly Gift Wrap

Guest Author - Jill Florio

Every year I have the same dilemma - what to wrap my Christmas presents in that is both environmentally-friendly AND attractive?

I hate seeing those piles of torn wrapping paper heaped under the tree after present-opening time. These papers were barely used and are now ready for the trash, and the landfill. One option is recycling them - but many of these speciality papers are hard to categorize, with metallic dyes added. Are they actually recyclable? And would you want them in your compost bin if they are toxic? What to do?

Here are some options I've tried and their mixed results:

  • Buy wrapping paper made specifically from recycled content. You can feel better buying it, and can probably recycle or compost it when you are done. Buying wrapping papers from charity groups involved in saving rainforests will salve your conscience and is a nice gesture.

  • Pick up inexpensive rolls of leftover wrapping paper from Goodwill or the Salvation Army. When I stopped by Goodwill today, I saw bins full of 1/2 and 1/4 rolls for less than a dollar each.

  • Save used wrapping paper this Christmas and reuse it all next year. I did this through-out my twenties. Now I don't really care to store used paper all year, but it worked fine for me at the time. The downside: your gifts don't look very pristine all wrapped up, sitting under the tree, with the professionally-wrapped stuff from everyone else. My parents understood my recycling convictions, but still, my gifts looked 'cheaper' than the others. If you can get your whole family to save and reuse together, this option should work for you. Make sure everyone opens their gifts carefully - no frantic ripping allowed!

  • Make your own gift wrap from butcher paper, reused brown paper bags, newspaper and the funny pages. These can look GREAT! Try some raffia twine bows with the butcher paper and brown bags, for a pleasant, simple, rustic look. Or get the family together to create your own designs drawn on the butcher paper - use crayons, markers or mixed media. Make a stencil from a potato for the brown paper bags. You don't need bows, and these hand-made offerings are like another gift all by themselves. Best of all, the paper, bags, and newsprint can all be recycled or composted.

  • Buy a bundle of pretty gift bags from your local dollar store, and reuse them each year. Tie the handles together with some ribbon so gift-getters have something to "unwrap". These bags come in all designs and look very nice under the tree. They are also a boon for wrapping odd-shaped gifts.

    Here is another option for reusable gift bags: Read my Reusable Bag Product Review.

  • Along the same lines, you can pick up a bunch of used but pretty baskets from your local Goodwill or thrift store. Put the gifts in the baskets and presto! Nothing to chuck. Everyone can use a basket or two in their lives.

  • Make lovely, reusable gift sacks from cloth material you have lying around. Fold material in half and sew up one bottom and the other side. Leave the top open, insert gift, and tie shut with a ribbon. These sacks can be as simple or extravagant as your talents/interest allows.

  • Give gift certificates this year. Place the certificates in a nice envelope, clip with hole puncher, add a bit of ribbon and dangle from the tree. The nice thing about this: there's virtually no wrapping to deal with (recycle or reuse that envelope), and the recipient gets a gift they will actually enjoy, since they get to pick it out. ;)

  • You can also make your own paper, using recycled materials of course!




Thursday, December 1, 2011