Pineapple Paperie

STATIONERY, NOTE CARDS, PERSONALIZED LABELS Personalized Stationery with whimsical designs, sure to delight any recepient.

Our new stationery is in! Go HERE to see the fabulous new line.

Blowin' In The Wind

Don't you just love the beautiful sound of windchimes! They always take me back to a different place and time . The sound in the breeze seems to make life feel a little more tranquil and peaceful.

We have added lots of new styles that we know you'll love!

Here are just 3 of our Favorites:

Bird Chandelier Chimes

Our Price: $29.95

Flower Pot Windchime

Our Price: $19.95

Lark Windchime

Our Price: $39.95

Windchimes make your outdoor living more enjoyable because they have a way of appealing to your senses. Most of us lead very active lives and to have some peaceful down time is a must these days. Whether it be your front porch, herb garden or back yard, our windchimes will lend to setting a tone of soothing tranquility. With just a gentle breeze the soothing sounds that come from our windchimes will soothe your senses and put your more at ease.

Blueberries-and-Cream Cookies

I love blueberries!

I've used them in muffins and pancakes but never cookies....

I thought this recipe looked like a good one to try.

This one-of-a-kind cookie recipe is courtesy of pastry chef Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar. Martha Stewart Living Get the Recipe

HERE

Marvelous Monday

Today's Giveaway!

French Style Table Clock The Old World feel of this French-Style Table Clock is achieved with claw feet and an antique finish on the clock face. Open the door, and inside you'll find two shelves! Uses one AA battery, not included. Wood ~ 8" x 4 3/4" x 22 3/4" high. Our Price: $39.95

Here's How to Win:

1. Leave a comment on this post about items you like in our e-store. Please add your e-mail address for contact information, should your name be drawn as the winner.

2. To earn an extra entry, add a post to your blog about Pineapple Hill's Marvelous Monday Giveaway. 3. Next, add your direct post (not home page) to Mister Linky at the bottom of this post. Entries will be allowed until next Monday(3/2) at 11 am Texas time to avoid spammers. Don't Forget... only link to your Marvelous Monday post not your home page, those will be deleted.

Winner will be announced March 2, 2009.

Get Ready to Garden

Now is the time to start planning your Garden.

Go HERE for some tips.

We have wonderful things to add delight to your garden!

Visit

In the Garden

Some of our favorite's are:

Garden Tool Caddy

Plant Care Tote and our

Cute Cottage Watering Can More for the garden....

Windchimes

Gifts for The GardenerWe also carry stepping stones, bird houses, accessories and fountains.

No-Bake Birthday Cake

This kid-pleasing marshmallow-and-crisp-rice cereal confection has a sweet secret:

chocolate-marshmallow icing inside.

This Cake is Gluten Free!

(from Martha Stewart Living Kids)

Makes one 8-inch, 2-layer cake; serves 8

Ingredients:

• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• Crispy Cake Basic Recipe
• Chocolate-Marshmallow Frosting
• Flower- and ball-shaped cereal pieces

Directions:

1. Coat two 8-by-2-inch round cake pans with cooking spray.
2. Prepare crisp-rice mixture; before pouring into pan, reserve 2 tablespoons for patching cake, and set aside, covered.
3. Divide remaining crisp-rice mixture among prepared cake pans. Press into pans with greased fingers to level. Let cool until set, at least 30 minutes.
4. Run a knife around edges of cakes to loosen; unmold onto parchment paper. While frosting is still warm, pour onto center of 1 cake layer, and spread evenly to edges.
5. Let stand 10 minutes. Place second cake layer on top; press down gently. Using reserved pieces of crisp-rice mixture, patch edges where frosting is visible.
6. Decorate with cereal, arranging pieces around top,middle, and bottom edges. Let cake stand until firm enough to slice, at least 30 minutes or up to 2 hours.
7. After 2 hours, wrap cake in plastic wrap to prevent it from getting too hard to slice.

The Happiness Effect

Public-health experts are beginning to wonder whether certain health-related behaviors are just as contagious as microbes.

Illustration by Dave Wheeler for TIME

Read about it Here

Preppy Plates

We are so excited about our new line!

Preppy PlatesThese are the CUTEST, PERSONALIZED, melamine plates available! They're fun and sophisticated all at the same time! Preppy Plates has done such a great job creating the most unique backgrounds and the ability for you to create a plate that fits your style! Whether it be for your table, picnics, tailgating,

or just the PERFECT PERSONALIZED GIFT!

Preppy Plate's

personalized melamine plates will make your table the preppiest table in town! I absolutely LOVE THEM & hope you do too.

We are busy adding the whole line. It's wonderful!

Coming soon:

• Bowls
• Lunch Boxes
• Pet Bowls and Mats
• Personalized Puzzles
• Trays
• Tumblers
• Platters

Tuesday Tip

Tomato Sauce

Listed in Dr. Oz's "Food - Hall of Fame"

I don't really get to watch much TV at all...too busy. Every now and then I turn Oprah on while I'm folding clothes. I've seen her show a couple of times when she has had Dr. Oz as a guest.

Dr. Oz recommends eating 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce per week. "Inside the tomato is a chemical called lycopene," says Dr. Oz. "This chemical has a wonderful effect—it's an antioxidant." Dr. Oz says there are added benefits from eating tomato sauce or paste as opposed to plain tomatoes. "A raw tomato is fine, too, but if you get a little fat with it—either with some nuts or a little olive oil and dressing—then it's perfect," says Dr. Oz. "It helps you absorb it better into your intestinal system."

Ever since that episode, I've been trying to serve spaghetti a few times every month. I came across this sauce by Bertolli at Sam's Club one day and it is really good! I like the Olive Oil Basil and Garlic. If everyone's going to be home for dinner, I use 2 jars and add a can of tomatoe sauce. You can add hamburger, sausage, meatballs or whatever. It's quite tasty!

Dr. Roizen beams when he talks about one particular food: tomatoes. "They decrease cancer and they decrease arterial aging, heart disease, stroke, memory loss, impotence, wrinkling of the skin," he says. "In fact, Dr. Oz and I think a small town should be named after aspirin: it's that important. But a whole country should be named after tomatoes!" So should they be raw or cooked?

"It takes 165 raw tomatoes to equal 10 tablespoons of tomato sauce," Dr. Roizen says. "So it's much easier to have tomato sauce." Dr. Roizen adds that it doesn't matter what kind of tomato sauce you have, "as long as it's cooked, and you eat it with a little olive oil and a little healthy fat because it's much better absorbed with it."

Hmmmm...I think I'll start serving it a little more often!

Love Garland

Courtesy of Country Home

TEMPLATES & PATTERNS

• Red Hearts Pattern
• Hearts with Words Patterns
• L and O Patterns
• V and E Patterns

peppermint-frosted chocolate yummies

Recipe from Amy Struck, Michigamme, MI

Amy frosts chewy chocolate cookies with peppermint frosting and a drizzle of chocolate. Finish with a sprinkle crushed peppermint candies.

Prep: 40 minutes Bake: 8 minutes/batch Oven: 375°

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp. vanilla1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 egg
• 2 1-oz. squares unsweetened chocolate, melted and cooled
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• Granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. peppermint extract
• 2–3 Tbsp. milk
• Red food coloring (optional)
• Crushed peppermint candies (optional)
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
• 2 tsp. shortening

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl, with an electric mixer on medium to high speed, beat 1/2 cup butter for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup granulated sugar, vanilla, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Beat in egg and melted unsweetened chocolate. Beat in flour until combined.
2. Drop dough by rounded teaspoons 2 inches apart onto ungreased cookie sheets. Grease the bottom of a glass and coat with granulated sugar; flatten cookies with sugar-coated glass. Bake in a 375° oven for 8 minutes or until set. Cool on cookie sheets for 1 minute; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, with an electric mixer on medium to high speed, beat 1/4 cup butter for 30 seconds. Beat in powdered sugar, peppermint extract, and enough milk to make a spreading consistency. If desired, tint pink with food coloring. Spread frosting over each cookie leaving a 1/4-inch border around the edge. Sprinkle with candies, if desired.
4. In a small saucepan heat and stir semisweet pieces and shortening over low heat until melted and smooth. Let cool slightly. Drizzle chocolate over tops of cookies. Makes 3 dozen cookiIn a small saucepan heat and stir semisweet pieces and shortening over low heat until melted and smooth. Let cool slightly. Drizzle chocolate over tops of cookies. Makes 3 dozen cookies.

Amy started making these chocolate-drizzled dream cookies as a teen and tweaked them until they became her signature recipe. “It’s a lot of fun to be recognized as the lady who made those wonderful cookies.”

That's for sure!

A Valentine Appetizer

White Bean Appetizer Heart

You will Need:

• 9 Inch Heart Pan
• 1 can (15.5 oz.) Great Northern White Beans
• 1 lb. fresh spinach, lightly steamed, well drained and chopped OR 1 package (10 oz.) frozen chopped spinach, thawed, well drained
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons drained and chopped roasted sweet red pepper PLUS 1 whole piece, drained and sliced (for garnish)
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 can (10 oz.) refrigerated pizza crust dough or purchase fresh pizza dough from your local pizza restaurant or Italian deli.
• Herb or parsley sprigs (optional)

Allow plenty of time for preparations...

1. Drain beans and mash.Stir in spinach, white vinegar, 1 tablespoon olive oil, onion, basil, chopped roasted red pepper, salt and black pepper.
2. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 425�F.
4. Roll dough out to 15 x 10 inch rectangle. Press dough into bottom and up 1 inch on sides of pan, trimming edges. Prick bottom with fork and refrigerate 10 minutes.
5. Lightly brush crust with olive oil.
6. Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and crisp. Remove from pan and cool.
7. When ready to serve, spread bean mixture into cooled crust. Garnish top with red pepper strips and herbs, if desired.

Makes 10 appetizer servings.

Recipe from Mary Ann Ross and Kimberly Lainson

Folded Valentines

Antique-Style Valentines

Martha Stewart Living

As early as the 1790s, sweethearts exchanged "puzzle purses." In this version, a poem runs along the edges, starting outside the folded square. The text, embellished with stamped and painted designs, is revealed in stages as the card is opened.

For instructions go HERE.

Tuesday Tip

Nature's Pharmacy

It’s been said that God first separated the salt water from the fresh, made dry land, planted a garden, made animals and fish… all before making a human. He made and provided what we’d need before we were born. These are best & more powerful when eaten raw. We’re such slow learners…God left us great clues as to what foods help what part of our body! A sliced Carrot looks like the human eye. The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye… and YES, science now shows carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes. A Tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart has four chambers and is red. All o f the research shows tomatoes are loaded with lycopine and are indeed pure heart and blood food.Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food. A Walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds on the nut are just like the neo-cortex. We now know walnuts help develop more than three (3) dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function. Kidney Beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys. Celery, Bok Choy, Rhubarb and many more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet, the body pulls it from the bones, thus making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.Avocadoes, Eggplant and Pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats one avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight, and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? It takes exactly nine (9) months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of Sperm as well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet Potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics. Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.Oranges, Grapefruits, and other Citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.Onions look like the body’s cells. Today’s research shows onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells. They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes. A working companion, Garlic, also helps eliminate waste materials and dangerous free radicals from the body.

Happy and Healthy Eating!

Cute Cupcake Toppers

Valentine's Day Cupcake Craft

I found this idea from my Country Living magazine. Isn't it adorable.

Learn to make these vintage-inspired paper-and-wire toppers, perfect for Valentine's Day treats! Fun for Valentine's Day or any time of the year, these vintage-inspired paper-and-wire toppers were designed by expert craft artist Melissa Neufeld. View complete instructions for three festive crafts (like those shown above) and vintage valentines on the attached PDF. Simply download and print!

Raspberry-Fudge Truffles

Chocolate AND Raspberry????

Those are my cute mom's two VERY FAVORITE things in the world.

So these truffles caught my eye.

Don't they look scrumptious! Get the recipe HERE.

Tuesday Tip

Reynolds Wrap Aluminum Foil TIP

(I love this!) My friend Sharon, gave me this tip:

I had to go into the kitchen and check this out for myself. Whoever looks at the end of your aluminum foil box? You know when you try to pull some foil out and the roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time. Well, I would like to share this with you. Yesterday I went to throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said,

Press here to lock end. Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can’t count the number of times the Saran wrap roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up. I’m sharing this with my friends. I hope I’m not the only person that didn’t know about this.

Plus

15 Awesome Uses for Aluminum Foil

by Anna Sattler

1. When my scissors get dull, I layer about 7 pieces of foil and cut through them, and the scissors are sharp once again.
2. I often forget to take my gold wedding ring and my silver cross ring off my fingers when I am doing dishes or grubbing around the house, so I put them in aluminum foil and put in some salt solution and leave it overnight. The next morning they look like new.
3. Sometimes I go on a baking streak, and I find my brown sugar has gotten hard. To soften the sugar, I wrap it in foil and bake it in a 300 degree oven for 5 minutes. To keep it soft, I leave it wrapped in the foil and enclose in a labeled ziploc bag.
4. Ball up some foil and use it to clean the gunk off your grill. It cleans just as well as a wire scrub brush.
5. Makes great gift wrapping paper in a pinch and can be decorated as you wish.
6. I use foil to clean the baked on gunk off my pots and pans. It works just as well as a steel wool scrub pad.
7. Wrap your hardware and doorknobs in foil so that they don't get dripped on when you are painting,
8. Half way through the baking process, take a length of foil and wrap around the edge of your pie, securing with a metal paper clip. This will prevent your crust from browning too much.
9. Roll a double thickness of heavy duty foil into a cone shape, snip off the end, and use as a pouring funnel.
10. Use it as a temporary piping bag or pastry bag by rolling it into a double thickness and leaving just a tiny hole at the pointed end. Fold down the top of the cone so nothing oozes out or twist the top closed.
11. Put a length of foil on your oven rack to catch spills. Many pizzas have instructions that tell you to bake the pizza on the rack, but what a mess that can make. Putting the pizza on cooking sprayed foil will save a big mess.
12. Since I love grilled vegetables, especially mushrooms, I top them with some butter and whatever herb or spice I am in the mood for, wrap them in a foil packet and give them to my husband to put on the grill with the steaks.
13. To prevent stuck on food in my baking pans and cookie sheets, I will line them with foil. It cuts down on cleaning time and leaves my pans looking just as good as they did when they went into the oven. Rinse off the sheets if they are not to disastrous and save them for another baking session, or rinse them off and put them in your recycling bin.
14. To prevent static electricity in your clothing, throw a small crumpled up ball of foil into your dryer.
15. For clothing items that can't take direct heat, such as rayon, silk, and wool, you can get the wrinkles out by placing a piece of foil on your ironing board. Put the garment over the foil, and pass 3 inches above the garment several times with the iron, holding down the steam button the entire time. The wet heat from the foil with rid the garment of wrinkles.

Marvelous Monday

g...and the WINNER is:

Shabby Chic

Cherub Angel Wall Plaque...

{Random Integer GeneratorHere are your random numbers ...22

Timestamp: 2009-02-02 19:02:01 UTC}

monstermash

Congratulations!

e-mail me asap: pineapplehilldesigns at gmail dot com

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