My Cup of Tea...A New Favorite Thing!

 

A few months ago my husband took me out for my 30th birthday and we had dinner at Maze, Gordon Ramsay's restaurant at The London! The food was outrageous and the peppermint tea that I had with dessert was amazing! I asked our server to write down the brand. Ever since, I have been hinting at the fact that he should order me some. To my surprise, I received a big box of Harney and Sons Peppermint Herbal Tea for Mother's Day on Sunday.

It was as delicious as I could remember it and it brought back memories from my wonderful birthday date. Drinking this tea is like breathing in a fresh breath of cool air. There is really nothing like it, hence the reason I was so excited to share this little secret with you.  Would you call me obsessed if I told you that I had three cups of it yesterday?

I hope that you might indulge yourself with a cup. It is well worth it! (I'm not getting compensated for this piece, I just wanted to share one of my newly discovered favorite things with you!) You can find the product here: Harney & Sons.

What are some of your favorite things?
Comment below! I would love for you to share with us. 

BE INSPIRED!

Blog Hoppin'

It's time to Mingle!

Hosted by All About Being Inspired, Happy Go Lucky, and Joy in the Jumble.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.

This weeks guest host is Emma's Lunch.

Join in on the fun by following the hostesses in the first three spots and our guest host in the fourth spot.  Then, link up your blog's main page.Have some fun reading new blogs and and making new blog friends.  Remember to show some love and follow new blogs.  We always follow back!!

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others.  There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

<center><a href="http://allaboutbeinginspired.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Happy Go Lucky" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/minglewithusbloghopbutton2.gif" /></a></center>We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other. 

Our First Blog Award: The Versatile Blogger Award

I always wondered how bloggers received awards and just the other day I found out when All About Being Inspired was awarded "The Versatile Blogger Award." It was given to us by Aimee at Girl Talk. This was a pleasant surprise to receive an award by her because I got lost in her blog one day and found her posts really interesting. One of my favorite posts that I read on her blog was "Bizarre Foods #2!" Please stop by her site for a visit and find blog hops, crafting ideas, giveaways and a lot of interesting thoughts.

The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are as follows:

Thank the person who gave you the award by linking back to them in your post.
Tell us seven things about yourself.
Award fifteen recently discovered new bloggers.

The 7 things about me:

• Jesus is my Lord and Savior
• I taught art for 5 years at a NJ High School and it was my dream job until I had my son...now being a stay-at-home mommy is my ultimate dream job!
• Green was my favorite color until I recently had a change of heart. Now it's purple. I think it is due to the color of my most recent pedicure. (Nice-Is-Nice by Essie!)
• My husband is my best friend!
• I just cut my own bangs and I will never do it again. Lesson learned!
• My one dreaded chore around the house is laundry but I do it anyway!
• The only reason that I ever tried "real" sushi was because my hubby took me to a sushi restaurant for dinner while we were dating and I didn't want to be rude and not eat. Now, I love it and it is one of my most favorite things to eat! If you live in NJ you must try Sushi by Kazu in Howell! It is the ultimate sushi restaurant.

I would like to give this award to the following awesome blogs in no particular order:
1.) Happy Go Lucky
2.) Joy in the Jumble
3.) Oleander and Palm
4.) Lady Bird Ln
5.) My So-Called Home
6.) Moms of All Trades
7.) Uniquely Chic
8.) Chase's View
9.) Create and Share

Thank you again, Aimee!!!

Blog Hop #12

It's time to Mingle!

Hosted by All About Being Inspired, Happy Go Lucky, and Joy in the Jumble.
Each week we will choose one blog at random to spotlight at the next week's blog hop.
Our guest host this week is The Adventures of J-Man and Millerbug.

Join in on the fun by following the hostesses in the first three spots and our guest host in the fourth spot.  Then, link up your blog's main page.

Have some fun reading new blogs and and making new blog friends.  Remember to show some love and follow new blogs.  We always follow back!!

Grab our button if you want to share our blog hop with others.  There will be a new list every Thursday, so be sure to come back every week.

<center><a href="http://allaboutbeinginspired.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="All About Being Inspired" src="http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m13/harveyusn/minglewithusbloghopbutton2.gif" /></a></center>We hope you have fun and thanks for joining us!  We are so excited to find new blogs, share great ideas, and inspire each other.

Step-by-Step Easter Butter Lamb

The butter lamb is a Polish Easter Tradition that can either be sculpted by hand or formed in a mold. It is a beautiful centerpiece for any Easter table setting and reminds me of why we gather on Easter Sunday. It is because the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, suffered for my sins and died on the cross.

Here, we are featuring the butter lamb that was freshly sculpted by my Mother-In-Law. She was kind enough to take pictures along the way so you can see the exact steps. A special thank you goes to Marlene's Aunt Sally who taught her the art of creating the butter lamb when she was a very young girl. Since then, it has been a Woods family tradition to have this adorable little lamb each year at the Easter table. What a wonderful tradition to start with your family.

 

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Sticks of Butter
• Caraway seeds (for the nose)
• Peppercorns (for the eyes)
• Jelly Bean (for the mouth)
• Toothpicks (for making the fur)
• Knife and Spoon for sculpting

Step 1: Start with 2 sticks of butter side-by-side and cut as shown with knife.

Step 2: Cut again as shown with knife

Step 3: Arrange butter as shown and cut as shown with knife.

Step 4: Smooth over the base to join the two bottom pieces together.
Stack one piece of the  first cut of butter from Step 1 on top of the base and on top of that,
stack the piece of butter that was just cut off on Step 3 to represent the head.

Step 5: With the remaining piece of butter that is off to the side,
cut off about 1/3 and place it in front of the head as shown.

Step 6: With the back of a spoon, create a little tail.

This is how your little lamb should look at this point.

Step 8: With a knife, create a leg as shown.

Step 9: Go ahead and make the back leg now.

This is a detail of what your lamb should look like as of now.

Step 10: Begin to smooth over the butter with the spoon
to create seamless edges.

Step 11: Sculpt a snout using the spoon.

Step 12: Adding butter remnant that was unused earlier,
apply to head and create ears.

This is what your little lamb should look like up to this step.

Here is another view of the lamb so far.

Step 13: At this point, place your lamb in the refrigerator to harden a bit.

Step 14: Using a toothpick, create little swirls that will be the lambs wool.

Continue with the curls until the lamb is completely covered.

Here is a photo of the lamb complete with its curls.

Step 15: Add two peppercorns for eyes.

Step 16: Add two caraway seeds for the nose.

Step 17: Cut off a slice of jelly bean and add for the mouth.

Final Step: Give the lamb a little purple bow using curling ribbon, add a handmade palm cross and dress with curly parsley! Keep refrigerated so it continues to stay hard and in shape. 

 BE INSPIRED!

All I Really Need...An Easter Download for YOU

Just dreaming about the little chocolate Easter bunnies and I was inspired to make this!

Feel free to download this below...I made it for you!

BE INSPIRED!

A Taste of Ocean Grove

Ocean Grove, New Jersey is one of our many beach towns, however, it is one of my favorites. It boasts the quaint serenity of a place tucked snug between the ocean and the rest of the world. With boutiques, bed and breakfasts, cafes, a cheese shop, and in town bakeries, it is all at your fingertips.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of participating in what is called the "Taste of Ocean Grove, " which is a foodies tour of what the little town has to offer. This is my fourth tasting and it is very enjoyable. For $15 you get a list of about 10 local places in town that serve up some of their most delicious bites. From mini crab cakes to apricot poppyseed scones the palette is sure to be satisfied at the end of the evening.

It is a casual affair at which we take the whole family. My parents, in-laws, nephew, great-aunt, husband and the smallest member of our family attend as we stroll the Main Street with baby-in-tow. All of the local shop and restaurant owners are more than generous with helping to fill up each and every belly. My most favorite stop this time was our first one. It is a place called Cheese on Main. We had the most delicious plate of selected cheeses including a fig preserve, which was really teasing my tastebuds!

I love the atmosphere of the whole experience. We toured a restaurant called Bia and were welcomed upstairs to see the guest rooms of those visiting OG. One of the most famous Ice Cream Parlors in town called Nagles offers an ice cream cone as part of the tasting experience. To top if off, we stopped into the Ocean Grove Bakery for a mini cupcake. At that point we were all well satisfied as we walked off while listening to the live band playing on the street corner.

If you are from New Jersey, this is a wonderful stop to make even off season as there is better parking and much to be explored. If you are an out-of-towner,  be sure to visit in the summer to get a glimpse of Tent City, which is a most amazing experience. Tiny little colorful tents with just about enough room to twirl around inside, line the streets. These tents are so popular that there are 10 year waiting lists to get one for the season! Horse-drawn carriage rides and the Great Auditorium are some of the other attractions that make Ocean Grove such a special place.

BE INSPIRED!