Marshmallow and Fudge Stripe Cookie Pilgrim Hats

Here's a quick and easy Thanksgiving dessert you can make with the kids!

Supplies:
24 Regular sized marshmallows
1 box of 24 fudge striped cookies (or any cookie that is chocolate coated on one side)
1 cup of chocolate for melting (chips or chunks work well)
1 skewer or chopstick per person
yellow icing (I found Wilton's icing writer at Michael's for about $3)
butter knife (optional)
waxed paper, parchment paper, or some other smooth surface

Directions:
First, melt the chocolate in a small dish.  This is probably the trickiest step- take your time and use low heat.  I did it by boiling some water in a small saucepan on the stove, then setting the dish in hot water.  You cannot apply heat from the stove or microwave oven directly to chocolate or it will burn.  If you set a smaller dish in hot water, do not let water get into the melted chocolate, or it will turn rock hard.  Stir occasionally.  When ready, the consistency will be similar to chocolate pudding or Nutella.

Use one of the sticks to dip the marshmallows in the chocolate.  I used a butter knife to smooth the chocolate at the bottom and around the sides of the marshmallow.  Be sure to get at least a tiny bit of chocolate on the top... we're going to flip these over in the next step and that little bit of chocolate will act as the glue.

Once the marshmallow is covered, flip it over.  Thread the stick through the hole in the middle of the cookie.  Pull the stick out and set the hats aside on the waxed paper to dry/cool.

Once the chocolate is hard, use the yellow icing to draw the buckle onto the hats, and voila!

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The Bahrain Tour... MWR version

Most of my friends already know this, but I spent 10 months deployed to Bahrain this year.  It was a lot of hard work, but I won't bore you with that part.  Unlike being on a ship (as with my previous deployments), I got to go on liberty every night.  Granted, sometimes I was at work until 10pm at night (or later), and who really wants to ride their bicycle home through a not very nice part of town at that hour, but I digress.  Anyway, upon arrival, I had to go through two separate indoctrination processes- one for the base and one for the command... this was a bit annoying as I'd already spent months doing paperwork, completing online training sessions, and listening to death by powerpoint lectures while preparing to mobilize.  One perk of base indoc was the MWR led tour of Bahrain.  It used to be free but I think you have to pay $35 now, due to budget cuts.  It's still a good deal- anyone entitled to MWR benefits can buy a ticket.  (So if you're visiting a service member you can buy a ticket for this tour!)  Bring $10 for lunch and snacks along the way.

If your tour guide is smart, your first stop will be Bahrain Fort.  It's a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Apparently, Bahrain has been a major hub for trade in the Arabian Gulf since the beginning of civilization.  Anyway, it's basically a city built on a city, going back thousands of years- which is pretty cool when you live in a country that's only been a country for 237 years.  There is a sidewalk up the hill to the fort, but it is oppressively hot from about March through October (even in the shade), so make sure you have water and sunscreen.  If you have small children, be ready to carry them.  There is an air conditioned visitors' center adjacent to the parking lot.  You really don't want to be here later than 10am during the hot months.

After that, we went to the Al Fateh Grand Mosque.  It's the largest mosque in Bahrain (most mosques are quite small- men are expected to go to the mosque several times a day to pray, so there's one in every neighborhood).  This mosque is relatively young (built in the late 80's) but an interesting mix of traditional and modern architectural concepts from around the world.  This was my first trip into a mosque, as most do not allow visitors.  Since I am female, I was expected to cover my hair, as well as my body to my wrists and ankles.  At this mosque, women are expected to wear an abaya (the loose fitting dress).  Men are not required to cover their hair or arms, but must wear long pants.

 

The next stop was the King's camel farm.  If you're not used to livestock, brace yourself for the smell.  There are a lot of camels.  You can feed and pet them, and if you luck out, sometimes you can find someone willing to let you (and your family) sit on one long enough to pose for a picture.

The first time I went, I didn't know about sitting on the camels... so I had to brave the smell and go back a second time.   

  

The next stop for us was the causeway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.  This is as close as I'll ever be to Saudi Arabia.  (I hope.)

We got a break for lunch, and then it was off to the National Museum.  What can I say, it's a museum!  Tons of history about the Dilmun era through modern Bahrain.

There is a big to-do in the museum about finding oil in Bahrain.  What they neglect to mention is that Bahrain used to have lush vegetation until they salted the water table while drilling for oil.  Anyway, here's the Buick the King drove out to see the first oil well.  

The gift shop is definitely a tourist trap- you can buy most of what you see there out in the souk for much less.  However, the little cafe is quite reasonably priced, with excellent pastries and coffee.  Don't forget to take a peek at the sculptures outside.  (You can usually get in and out through the cafe veranda.)  During the cooler months, they host swank events outside the museum, by the water.  Gorgeous view, isn't it?

Of course, there are other things you should do if you're spending any amount of time in Bahrain, but it's pretty good to hit these highlights all in one day and to have reliable transportation for only $35.

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Replacing the belt on the Lortone 3A

Ok, it's been a while.  Long enough for me to return from Bahrain, but we'll catch up on that later.  It's craft fair season and I rely on my trusty ole Lortone 3A to polish my creations.  It hasn't been working very well for a while, but I've been making do until I got back Stateside.  Come to find out, I didn't need to, because I was able to snag this 2 pack of Replacement Drive Belts for my Lortone 3A Tumbler on Amazon.  It arrived in 2 days (yay, Amazon Prime) and works like a champ.  But anyway, I digress.  If you use a Lortone 3A, at some point you will need to adjust the belt.  It's pretty simple, just loosen those nuts and push them from left to right, and tighten them back down.  This works because it adds tension to the belt that drives the rods that turn and spin your tumbler barrel.  (Personally, I think this is pretty ingenious- especially since replacement belts are not cheap!)

But, eventually, your belt will wear out and you'll have to replace it.  It's very simple.  How simple, you ask?  So simple even a political science major can do it!  As long as you have a phillips head screwdriver.

First step, slide those 3 nuts (photos above) back over to the left.  You want to reduce tension on the belt so you can remove it.

Next, remove the 4 screws that anchor the blue cover to the rest of the tumbler and lift off the cover.

Don't forget this one!

Then, remove the belt.  In my opinion, it works better if you unhook it from the smooth wheel, then over the fan blades.  Be careful not to catch or bend the blades with the belt.

Replace the old belt with the new one by gently looping it over the fan, setting it into the groove, and gently placing around the wheel- essentially the reverse motion of how you removed it.  Just make sure the belt is laying in the grooves.

As you can see below, the old belt is a bit stretched out.  The newer one works much better.

Replace the cover and screws, and voila!  Off you go!


Please visit our Etsy store for Hawaiian beach glass jewelry, limited edition artisan jewelry and more!