DECK THE HOLIDAY'S

   This comes from www.christinechitnis.com .  Turn those garden variety clay pots into something everyone will admire.  Enjoy! The only thing I would suggest when you make these yourself is to spray some outdoor clear spray on the pots to keep them waterproof and if you put them outside, put another coat onto the fabric also.     This might be my favorite craft so far, and I got the idea after seeing one too many beautifully patterned pots that were just out of my price range! Nothing a little Mod Podge and pretty fabric can't fix! The total cost of this project was about $3 a pot.     Materials: Terracotta pots Mod Podge Brush Fabric       This works better in description form, rather than step-by-step: Start by cutting a length of fabric that will wrap once around your pot. Leave extra room for folding it over on the top and bottom. Cut slits in the fabric around the top, to avoid puckering as you make your...

   Bring the street party to your backyard with these one-bite cookies. Chocolate chip cookies filled with more rich chocolate? Party on. Ingredients 3/4 cup butter, softened 3/4 cup granulated sugar 3/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 teaspoon salt 1 (12-oz.) package semisweet chocolate morsels Parchment paper Bourbon Ganache Preparation 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed with a heavy-duty electric stand mixer until creamy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. Add vanilla, beating until blended. 2. Combine flour and next 2 ingredients in a small bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in morsels just until combined. Drop dough by level spoonfuls onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets, using a small cookie scoop (abo...

    The Scoppio del Carro ("Explosion of the Cart") is a folk tradition of Florence, Italy. On Easter Sunday, a cart, packed full of fireworks and other pyrotechnics, is lit and provides a historic spectacle in the civic life of the city. A Little History on the Festival     The event of the Scoppio del Carro has its origins in the First Crusade, when Europeans laid siege to the city of Jerusalem in a conflict to claim Palestine for Christianity. In 1097, Pazzino de' Pazzi, a Florentine from a very prominent family, was by tradition, the first man to scale the fortified walls that surrounded Jerusalem. As a reward for this act of bravery, his commander gave him three flints (fire starters) from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which were then carried back to Tuscany. These were and still are kept in the Chiesa delgli Santi Apostoli .     It became the practice for a "holy fire" to be struck from these flints at East...