June's Channeling Martha Moment

Now that Father's Day is over - and it's the last day in June - I can blog about about my June's channeling Martha moment. As I get older, I find it harder to think of good gifts to give my parents and even though they always say not to get them anything, I have a difficult time doing that. When I was a kid it was always about making things to give them; and no matter what it was that I made I was always proud of it as I handed it over to them. So this Father's Day, I decided to go back to that time of homemade gifts and made my dad something he could really enjoy, food!

The June issue of Martha Stewart Living was a good one with lots of fun ideas; much better than May's issue. There were a couple of different ideas for Father's Day gifts that I had to choose from. I decided to go with the Nuts and Bolts Snack Mix because my dad is a big snack mix fan. Another thing I liked about it was that it was somewhat healthy and since my dad is eating healthier now, I thought it would be a nice treat without the guilt.

The recipe calls for cayenne pepper which can really make it feel like you swallowed a ball of fire if you're not careful, so I went light with it. And even so, it still ended up being pretty spicy. It wasn't the easiest recipe to do when you're trying to take care of an energized eight month old; you have to take it out of the oven every 20 minutes to stir the snack mix for a total of almost two hours. I also had trouble finding miniature pretzels so I had to use the regular sized ones. All in all, it turned out great and I was even able to get it shipped to him to arrive on time. That's an accomplishment on it's own as being on time with gifts and cards has been a struggle for me lately. Though I wish I could've been there to give my dad his gift in person, he was touched that I made him something from the heart.