Hi Friends,

I have had a few people ask about why  I haven't posted on my blog in a while and I have to admit. I have been really busy, with grandchildren and with Kari coming home for Christmas and just with the business that comes with day to day living.

As many of you probably know, I make soap and some other products. This year I made and sold more than ever and had a great season. In addition to making soap I developed a formula for a solid cake that is sort of like chapstick for your body. I call it a Butter Cake and I thought it would be something I could sell in addition to my soap since I have all the ingredients for soapmaking already.

Well, they turned out to be very popular and I make and sold about 150 during the Christmas season. That helped to keep me busy.

Allison and Elinor are growing fast I have the privilege of caring for them from time to time. Elinor is on the verge of crawling and Allison is sitting up. They are both just so cute and adorable. I can't believe I have turned into the typical bragging grandma. Who would have thought?

At any rate, if you would like to keep up on the progress of our cottage, drop me an email. I will probably post some more cottage photos and progress reports in the future, but for now, I am forgoing posting progress here.

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas holiday. All the kids were here for Christmas so it was wonderful.  We watched all three Lord of the Rings extended version movies--which we hadn't done for a few years. It was a big commitment-- but Kari, Bob and I enjoyed them immensely. We made hot cocoa every night and I thought you might like the recipe. This is an old fashioned hot cocoa, not too sweet.

Jill's Famous Hot Cocoa

Mix together in a 2 quart pan:
1/4 Cup dry baking cocoa
1/4 Cup white sugar [for sweeter cocoa make this a heaping 1/4 cup full or about 1/3 cup]
1/4 Cup water
1/4 tsp salt [optional]

Boil for 1 minute, then add:
1 quart milk
Heat till drinking temperature.
You can add some cream to this, or some whipped cream to the top. Kari and I usually add about 1-2 Tablespoons of real butter with the milk to give it a creamier taste. You may want to add 1 tsp of vanilla before serving.

This makes about 4 large cups of cocoa. Kari got too impatient waiting for the cocoa to heat, so she heated the milk in the microwave while she was bringing the cocoa, sugar and water to a boil on the stove. That way, when it boiled, she could put in hot milk and the cocoa was done in no time at all.

Take care,
Jill