homemade |

Homemade Sharp Mustard~The Perfect Easter Hostess Gift & Free Printable Labels

Seriously–doesn’t pretty much everyone eat ham on Easter Sunday? And whether you’re hosting a crowd at your home, or perhaps planning to enjoy the day with friends and family, this mustard recipe is the perfect complement to your Easter ham.

Courtesy of my dear Aunt Diane, who is a fabulous cook, it’s a staple in my refrigerator at all times, and best of all, it makes enough that you’ll have some to keep, and some to share.

This is a great recipe—as stated in the title, this mustard is *sharp* and almost has a horseradish bite to it, which comes from the mustard and vinegar. Yum!

Aunt Diane’s Sharp Mustard

3.5 oz. dry mustard (usually 2 jars/bottles)
1 c. apple cider vinegar
1 egg
1 c. sugar
½ t. salt
1 ½ c. mayonnaise

Combine the dry mustard and vinegar in a bowl and let stand for 8-12 hours (I’ll usually do this before I go to bed). Beat the egg (I do this in a medium saucepan off heat so I make fewer dirty dishes), and then add the sugar, salt, and mustard/vinegar mixture. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Cool and then stir in the mayonnaise. Pour into jars and keep refrigerated. **I use Ball’s half pint, large mouth jars for this recipe; it will fill about 4 of them.**

Here are some gorgeous black and green labels that Amy whipped up for us (thank you, Amy). You can print these out on sticker or full-sheet label paper and stick them on the top of the jar, or try printing them on cardstock and tie them around the jar with a little raffia or decorative ribbon—I think they’d look great either way, and they’ll definitely dress up your mustard to make this the perfect Easter hostess gift. I always have a few jars of this mustard ready-to-gift in my fridge; it’s a nice change to the typical bottle of wine or flowers that we usually take our hostesses.

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Christmas Gift Idea–Homemade Ginger & Lavender Bath Salts–Plus Free Printable Tags

Amy and Terry are off on a Hobby Lobby field trip without me (not that I’m bitter or anything) and so I get to do the post today! In all seriousness, I don’t begrudge them their trip. They are in Virginia, after all, and I’m in North Carolina, and they have been LIVING WITHOUT A HOBBY LOBBY this whole time! Can you believe that? They’ve been so deprived…I assume they took the trailer to carry everything home from the new Hobby Lobby that just opened near them.

I wanted to do another post on quick and easy gift ideas. If the Christmas cheer in a bottle (a.k.a. homemade liquor) post wasn’t your style, here’s one on easy, homemade ginger and lavender bath salts. These are great teacher gifts or stocking stuffers, and you can use them throughout the year as a simple birthday gift, too. They’re inexpensive–always a plus–and easy to dress up with packaging ideas (more on that later).

Let’s get started: simply mix in large bowl 2 cups of baking soda, 1 cup of Epsom salts (buy these in the pharmacy section), and 2 tablespoons of ground ginger. If you want lavender, then omit the ginger and add about 10-15 drops of lavender essential oil. Mix thoroughly and package it up–that’s it! Some people add colored dye, but I’m not into adding artificial coloring unless it’s absolutely necessary. Of course, you could substitute any essential oil that you prefer. The possibilities are endless! This makes one batch, and of course you can double, triple, quadruple it, etc etc.

Presentation is everything, so have fun packaging it up. Pour it into cellophane bags, like the Wilton treat bags that you buy in the cake decorating section of the hobby store, or put it in a mason jar. Tie it off with some ribbon or raffia, and use these Ginger Soak Printables if you’d like. I print them on white card stock or whole sheet sticker paper, and cut them with a 3″ circle or scalloped punch. If you find any old silver spoons at a flea markets or a yard sale, tie one to the jar (or bag) with the ribbon and it’s even cuter!

When it’s time to soak, the lucky recipient can throw in a few spoonfuls or the whole bag (depending on how bad her day was) and wash her troubles away. Come to think of it, why not keep some in a cute vintage jar by your tub?