A Favorite

These homemade cookies are really easy to mix up in a hurry, and not made from a box.

Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
handful of oatmeal
chocolate chips (about half a bag)

Blend together the shortening and sugars, then add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Add a mixture of the flour, baking powder, soda and salt. Mix til well blended. Stir in oatmeal and chocolate chips. Drop scoops on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. It's closer to 10 for my oven. Don't overbake. They're perfect when their flaky and crisp on the outside and moist on the inside. The recipe makes about 3 1/2 dozen.

In Love

I love this idea so much!
Wish I could claim it as mine but I can't.
Here is the link with the instructions.
I think it turned out so cute.
I {heart} it. ☺



There are also instructions on how to do a valentines topiary.

Chocolate Banana Bread

Found this recipe on Allrecipes, started making it yesterday, didn't have everything, finished it today. Worth the wait. ☺

Chocolate Banana Bread

1 cup margarine, softened (I used butter)
2 cups white sugar
4 eggs
6 bananas, mashed (I used very ripe bananas)
2 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup sour cream
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a large bowl, cream together butter, sugar and eggs. Stir in bananas and vanilla. Sift in flour, baking soda and cocoa; mix well. Blend in sour cream and chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared pans. Bake in preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a loaf comes out clean.

The Big One

This is a recipe from my husband's grandma who passed away about 2 1/2 years ago. A wonderful lady who lived a very full life. Much of her life was spent in the kitchen cooking up something delicious for her family. These cookies were always in her freezer, among other yummy treats.

I think they're called Monster Cookies for several reasons. Monster size, monster batch of dough, monster calories....

Morning sickness still plagues me to a degree but it's much better. I don't feel like I want to go pick out my casket anymore. I actually tasted a small bite of these and didn't feel the need to dry heave afterwards.

Here is the recipe in her own words (with my translations).

Monster Cookies

6 eggs
1 # brown sugar (2 1/4 cups)
2 cups white sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tbsp Karo syrup
4 tsp baking soda
1/2 # butter or oleo (2 sticks, softened)
1 1/2 # peanut butter (3 cups)
9 cups oatmeal (quick rolled oats)
1/2 # chocolate chips (about 3/4 of a bag)
1/2 # M&M's
coconut (if desired - this would make the cookie more chewy)

Blend everything together, but stir in the the oatmeal, chips and m&m's. Scoop large amount onto baking sheets, leaving room for them to spread. Smash the dough down a little before baking at 350° for about 15 to 20 minutes. Depends on how soft you want them.
What's interesting is this is a half batch recipe. Using a 1/2 cup of dough for each cookie will yield about 20 cookies this big:

Party Decor

A couple of ideas we used for a church party this past weekend.

Some of the table centerpieces were these winter trees. You make them by stripping the leaves off good-sized branches, then pot them using fast-drying plaster of paris. Then we randomly hot-glued a few red berries on. My neighbor (and friend) had the brilliant idea of using some plaster to add "snow" to some of the branches. They turned out way cuter than the pictures show. I waited too late in the afternoon to take them.

These are especially cute to do in the spring time, using silk flower buds instead of berries and snow.





This other idea came from Lowes and you can find the instructions here. We did the snowflake that they did, but then we went crazy and did several more. I'm not gonna lie, these are time-consuming so I don't recommend waiting until the last 5 days before your party to make them. If you are an artist they'll go much faster. It just took a long time to plan out the shape and make patterns on butcher paper. We loved the result though, so it was all worth it! ☺

Here are a few.







Jen, you can no longer pretend you're not crafty. The secret is out!! ☺

Tradition

I haven't been able to post any new recipes lately. Morning sickness (more like random sickness) and food, particularly sweets, don't agree with me at all.

Thank you Walmart for a $7 evening of entertainment.

The Little Things

I borrowed this idea from Amy a few years ago. It's just one of those little touches that brings more Christmas into the house.

You can make your own using berry garland, or you can take it easy and use candle rings. Using Christmas ribbon, tie one on the back of each of your dining room chairs. Simple and cute!

BROWNIES!

Brownies with Chocolate Mint "Frosting"

2 boxes prepared Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownies
(or as I like to call them "Why Would You Make Homemade When You Can Make These?")
2 small pkgs Andes mints OR 1 pkg Andes mint chocolate chips

When the brownies come out of the oven, immediately top them with the mints or chips. Let them melt enough to spread them. Let them cool and serve 'em up.

Seriously, the brownie mix is the best just by themselves. And it has to be the Double Chocolate ones, the other kinds just aren't as good.

♫ Goin' to the Chapel ♪ ♫

Saturday was all about the wedding cake (after a rousing game of kickball first thing in the morning). This cake would take a professional about an hour (or less) to put together after baking the layers. I'm going to pretend I am a professional and it only took me that long. And I'll use professional lingo and refer to my friend and her son (the groom) as "clients". ☺

The clients (I'm cracking myself up) chose an unusual topper with the bride and groom in a sitting position and just kind of hanging out. It was very cute and I thought of a few ways to make it funny, like have them chilling in a beach chair or something, but in the end they were perched on the edge of the top layer, looking like they're ready to slide (or take the plunge, ha ha). There were no other requests, just a mention that they like strawberry cake.
Strawberry cake meets white fondant and the rest is history.

I know this isn't a recipe, but sometimes we professionals have other things to do over the weekend. ☺

(Cell phone pics, that's all I've got.)

Sneaky

Got a picky eater?

Try this trick I learned from my good friend, Jennifer, a long time ago when we didn't live on opposite sides of the country. :( It's a great way to get tons of vitamins in your little one in one sitting.

The trick is to simply add a generous handful
of this to your smoothie ingredients.


This particular smoothie is just orange juice, frozen strawberries, banana and spinach. We go through phases of favorites but one we ALWAYS love is orange juice, pineapple, mango, kiwi and of course, spinach. Sometimes I add a little bit of Splenda if it needs a little sweetening, but usually the juice is sweet enough.
Another favorite lately is apple juice, blueberries and a few strawberries.



Blend it all up and they'll never know.
The taste doesn't change, just the color
(not a pretty color).


I usually just eyeball it but the ratio is probably about 12 ounces of juice to 1 1/2 to 2 cups of fruit. A good tip is to use all frozen fruits then you usually don't have to add ice, so it's truly a SMOOTHie. I buy almost all of my fruit frozen, but I peel and cut kiwis and bananas and freeze them.


Not exactly a winter drink for most people, but here in Florida we drink them all year round. And you don't have to feel guilty for feeding your kid pretzels and a "smoody" for dinner. ☺

A Wedding

I'm making a wedding cake this Saturday. I don't think they know about my Scout Eagle Court of Honor cake disaster or they wouldn't have asked me to make it.
Anyway, they like strawberry cake so I was testing out this recipe I found yesterday. The cake was quite good and the frosting even better. I'm not sure I can use the frosting because it's kind of thin and runny for decorating, but I think the cake will taste good with regular old white decorator's frosting if I decide do that.
Here's the recipe for the cake and the frosting. I will make this again, it was that good.

Strawberry Dream Cake

1 white cake mix
1 1/2 cups frozen sweetened strawberries, pureed
12 ounces cream cheese, softened
8 (1 oz) squares Bakers white chocolate
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (8oz) container cool whip, thawed
1/2 pint fresh sliced strawberries (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease 2 9-inch round cake pans.
Make cake per directions except substitute the 1 1/2 cups of strawberries for the water and add 1 extra egg. (My cake mix required egg whites, which I used and then added a whole egg), and 8 ounces of the cream cheese. Beat well and pour into the prepared pans.
Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Let cake cool fully before frosting.
To make frosting, heat the heavy cream until just beginning to boil. Pour it over the white chocolate (chopped) and the remaining 4 ounces of cream cheese. Mix well and let cool. Once cool, fold in the cool whip. Frost cake and garnish with fresh strawberries.
I wonder if it would be better to chill the frosting before frosting the cake because when the put the frosted cake in the fridge, the frosting firmed up.

I ♥ My Bathroom

Our master bathroom vanity redo has been technically finished for a few weeks. I've just been working on the details but decided to post since it will probably take a little while until it's completely done, down to the tiniest thing. I'm not an impulsive shopper or decorator. I like to take my time.

Anyway....

Goodbye old bathroom.

Goodbye formerly dark-brown laminate cabinets
with the white paint peeling off.

Goodbye stained and chipped countertop.
Bye-bye ginormous, plain old boring, cracked mirror.

Adios sassy brassy leaky faucet.

Bye-bye overly textured, partially painted walls.

See ya later soap and toothbrush holder that I'm sure had to be
included in the original blueprints for the walls of the bathroom.

Hello beautiful, clean, bright white bathroom I have been dreaming about!


Check out that mirror!
Jill reluctantly gave that beauty up just for me.
Thanks Jilly! ☺


A few little things still left to be done.
Deciding on a ribbon for the drawers is one. I love this idea. I saw it in a magazine and on this blog. I'm just having a hard time finding the perfect one.

I really like the blue.

I like the white too.
But probably the blue more.
Just not sure if I like that particular blue....


Definitely not the yellow.


Painting the little mirror on the floor.
It's for little people who can't see in the big one since
the vanity is quite a bit higher than it used to be.

I'm searching for a glass knob for the closet door.

The light fixture is temporary. It's the old one, painted white,
which is fine but one of the sockets doesn't work.

The picture frame on the wall needs something in it and
we'll probably put in a small towel bar on the opposite wall.

The little houses in the birdcage need a new shade of blue paint.
They're a shade that's too far off everything else in there.

And I've been eyeing a couple of wire baskets
to put underneath the sink for towels.

Details of the project:
Rip out old sink, countertop and vanity.
Install floor to ceiling beadboard.
Tile the area of the old vanity.
Install baseboards and crown moulding.
Paint everything.
Paint buffet to be used as vanity.
Cut a hole and fit the sink.
Reconfigure plumbing for one sink.
Fun Fun Fun!

That's Better

The bolster pillow I made from an old water-stained king size pillow and duct tape looks really good on my bench (that I so selfishly kept) but it seemed a little plain.




I think it looks better now.
It only cost me 3 sheets of iron on t-shirt transfer paper.

Scotch-A-Roos

Delicious recipe from my awesome friend, Jeanette. And they can be made very quickly. I made dinner for another family recently but had forgotten to make these. I put the recipe together in a matter of minutes and then threw the pan in the freezer to cool while I packed the rest of the food up. They turned out perfect.

Scotch-A-Roos

1 cup sugar
1 cup light corn syrup
1 cup peanut butter
6 cups Rice Krispies
1 bag chocolate chips
1 bag butterscotch chips

Bring to boil the sugar and syrup. Then take it off the heat and stir in the peanut butter. Pour it over the Rice Krispie's and mix it together. Press into cookie sheet or baking dish. Melt the chips together and then spread on top.

What Diet?

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

This frosting recipe will knock you right off that diet wagon you might be on.

I originally got it from Amy, who originally got it from someone else, and it originally came with this recipe for Strawberry Cake, which is sinfully delicious itself. Here's the original recipe:

Strawberry Cake
1 white cake mix + ingredients listed on the box
1 single serving size strawberry yogurt

Mix the cake according to directions, adding the yogurt with the other ingredients. Bake as normal. Cool, frost and then top with frozen, sweetened strawberries (thawed).

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 small boxes vanilla pudding
2 (8 oz) blocks cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
16-24 ounces Cool Whip

Blend the pudding, cream cheese and powdered sugar together until smooth. Blend in the Cool Whip last. The more you use, the lighter the frosting is. I use the max amount. This recipe makes a crazy amount of frosting and should probably be halved for a 9x13 cake. I make the entire recipe when I make cupcakes so there's plenty to pile on top of each cupcake.

Here's where the chocolate comes in. Just swap out the vanilla pudding for chocolate pudding and you have Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting. It's sooooo good!! The picture above is a cupcake made using this recipe, then topped with a huge amount of frosting. Just plan to go on a 5 mile run after you eat one. ☺

Silly Dogs

What kid doesn't like noodles and hot dogs?
Especially when the noodles are
coming out of the hot dogs?

Do this first.



Boil like normal. Then you have this.


Try different kinds of pasta.


Or, my hot dog lovin' daughter likes her dogs made into an octopus.

Holiday Pillows

Bridget's been sewing again. Placemat pillows (pillows made out of placemats) have found their way around. I have made a few for my daughter's bed. They're a cheap way to add a little something to your plain couch cushions and there are tons of different patterns and colors. But don't forget you can decorate for the holidays with pillows too.
Here's a photo how-to on making a placemat pillow.







Christmas stockings done the same way make great pillow decorations too.


Just stitch the opening closed when you're done.

You know Target has placemats on clearance all the time, so keep an eye out. Before you buy one, make sure it's made to where you can stuff it, or buy two so you can sew them together.

Fabric napkins are also a great option. Buy 2 and sew them together almost all the way around. Stuff it, then stitch the opening closed.

Colonial Oatmeal Cookies

Bridget made this recipe from a church cookbook. Supposedly the recipe is over 200 years old. She halved the recipe and it still made tons. She also didn't dip the glass in sugar. She melted chocolate chips and dipped half the cookie in the melted chocolate. Sounds good to me! ☺

Colonial Oatmeal Cookies

2 cups soft butter (not margarine)
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups white flour
4 cups rolled oats
1 tsp baking soda

Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Shape into balls a little larger than an English Walnut. Place on greased cookie sheets. Flatten with a glass first dipped in water, then in white sugar. Bake at 350° for 10-12 minutes. Be careful not to overbake!! Makes about 4 dozen.

The Last Piece

Learned this one from Bridget a while ago.

And I know it's not chocolate but I've heard it's good made with a chocolate cake mix. ☺

Banana Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

1 White cake mix + all ingredients on the box
2-3 ripe bananas
Mash the bananas in a bowl and set aside. Mix the cake according to directions, then blend in the bananas at the end. (2 = less banana flavor 3 = more banana flavor)
Bake according to directions on the box. Frost with cream cheese frosting. Here's a basic recipe. (I'll post a to-die-for cream cheese frosting recipe later this week along with another quick and delicious cake recipe.)

Cream Cheese Frosting
1 box (pound) of powdered sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1 block cream cheese, softened
1 tsp vanilla
milk to make it thinner, if you'd like

Blend it all together until smooth, adding the milk for a thinner consistency.

Special

Waaaaay too busy working on the bathroom project over the weekend to bake something. I did, however, discover this little gem of an ice-cream topping at a little get together.
Hershey's Special Dark Chocolate Topping

It's not so throat-burning sweet as regular chocolate syrup. It goes perfectly on a banana split made with quality Neopolitan ice-cream, which reminds me of being a kid and stirring and stirring the ice-cream until it turned into a Frosty-type consistency and flavor.

This topping, on the other hand, was disgusting.

Go with good old Marshmallow Fluff if you insist on a marshmallow topping.

A-door-able

The master bathroom renovation is underway. Today was demo day, so it's all been gutted, which is pretty boring to look at, but I've been working on some other things this week that will complete the look I'm hoping for.

The plan was to replace the louvered door that leads into the walk-in closet. But then I had an idea....

The door before.


And after.


It was extremely easy.
You don't even have to own any power tools.
But it's more fun if you do.

First, I got rid of the slats, using my jigsaw to cut right up the middle,
then the slats just popped right out.
This left little grooves in the door.


So I covered them with 3/4 inch trim, which fit perfectly, attaching it with Liquid Nails. Another option would be to fill in the grooves with wood filler and then sand it smooth.



I had to sand my door almost to the bare wood because it had two layers of glossy paint on it which was making the top layer peel. Normally you should only have to lightly sand it to rough it up a little before you paint.


I primed, then painted the door.

Using a clearance duvet cover from Target, I made "curtains" for the top and bottom sections. I found small tension rods at Target to hang them. You could staple the fabric in, but I wanted the option to wash them or even switch them out easily if I get tired of the fabric.


It turned out exactly how I pictured it, which is always a good thing. I'm thinking about using this idea on the louvered bifold closet doors in my girls' bedroom.
Meanwhile, I can't wait for the entire bathroom project to be done!!!

Very Chocolatey

Tried another Martha special. These turned out rich and fudgy and were eaten before I could get a picture with ice-cream on top.

Chocolate Truffle Cakes

5 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp all purpose flour
14 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 Tbsp sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 tsp salt

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Generously butter a standard 6-cup muffin tin. Dust with flour, tapping out excess; set aside.
2. Put chocolate, butter, and 1 Tbsp sugar in a medium heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water; whisk occasionally until smooth. Remove from heat and let stand until cool and thickened, 3 to 5 minutes. Process eggs and remaining Tbsp sugar in a food processor until pale and oubled in volume, about 2 minutes. Sift flour and salt into egg mixture; pulse to combine. Add chocolate mixture 1/4 cup at a time; pulse each addition until combined, about 10 times. (Batter will be thick.)
3. Spoon mixture into the prepared muffin tin, filling cups three-quarters full; swirl tops with back of spoon. Bake until tops are springy to the touch, 18 to 20 minutes. Immediately turn onto wire racks; reinvert, and let cool.
Serves 6.

I Made This One Up

You can make any combination you want with this recipe but here's what I did:

Toffee Ice Cream Bars

1 pkg crunchy toffee cookies, crushed (I bought some Archer Farms brand at Target - you need about 3 cups crushed)
1 stick melted butter
2 small boxes chocolate pudding
1 cup milk
carton of vanilla ice-cream, softened (not melted, just softened)
1 (8 oz) carton Cool Whip
Pkg crushed Heath bars for baking (in the baking aisle)

Combine the crushed cookies and the melted butter and pat it into the bottom of a 9x13 pan to make a crust. Set aside.
Mix the milk and pudding together. It will be pretty thick. Stir in the ice-cream. I added most of the bag of Heath stuff to this mixture. Spread over crust. Spread Cool Whip over that. Sprinkle the rest of the Heath over the top and freeze for at least a couple of hours.

I think a good variation would be peanut butter cookies instead of the toffee cookies and crushed Butterfinger instead of the Heath. ☺

A Fall Recipe

Had a loverly Labor Day and then yesterday I finally got a chance to try this recipe out. It's from a really old Martha Stewart magazine. Never too early to bust out the pumpkin recipes I always say. ☺
These cookies are very soft and moist. I've never had brown butter icing before and it just might be my new favorite!

Pumpkin Cookies With Brown Butter Icing

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 ground ginger
3/4 tsp ground nutmeg
11 ounces (2 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, divided
2 1/4 cups packed light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups canned solid pack pumpkin (14 oz)
1 cup plus 1 Tbsp evaporated milk (plus more if needed)
1 Tbsp pure vanilla extract, divided
4 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheets with parchment paper; set aside. Fit a pastry bag with a large coupler and a 1/2-inch plain round tip; set aside. (I'm sure you could use a Ziploc bag and cut the corner if you don't own any cake decorating stuff.)

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a medium bowl; set aside. Cream 12 Tbsp (1 1/2 sticks) butter and the brown sugar on medium speed of a mixer until pale, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. On low speed, add pumpkin, 3/4 cup milk, and 1 tsp vanilla; mix until combined, about 2 minutes. Add flour mixture; mix, scraping down sides and bottom of bowl as needed, until well combined.

3. Transfer batter to pastry bag. Holding tip close to parchment paper, pipe 1 1/2 inch rounds 1 inch apart (piping them does make a difference in the appearance of the cookies when they are baked). Bake until tops are springy to the touch, about 12 minutes. Let cool on sheets 5 minutes; transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

4. Meanwhile, put confectioners' sugar in a large bowl; set aside. Melt remaining 10 Tbsp butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes (mine took several more minutes after cranking the heat to med-high).

5. Immediately pour batter over sugar, scraping any brown bits from sides and bottom of pan. Add remaining 5 Tbsp of milk and remaining 2 tsp vanilla; stir until smooth. Spread about 1 tsp icing on each cookie. (If icing becomes stiff, stir in a little more milk until spreadable.) Cookies can be stored in an airtight container up to 3 days.

Skirts

Part of this queen size bed skirt has now become a pint size little girl skirt.
I kinda want to see how many different things I can make out of it.


I'm not sure this could have been any easier.
The hem is already there and the gathering at the waistband is done.
I cut above the skirt part just enough to be able to fold it over and make a casing for some elastic, and then sewed up the side.
30 minutes - tops.

I Got Nothin'

I'm on a diet. But yesterday Jill made the already posted Too Much Chocolate Cake recipe. But since she's such a picky eater, she made it gluten-free.
Betty Crocker has made a at least one Celiac's dream come true by making a gluten-free cake mix. We have no idea what it tastes like made per the directions on the box, but we do know if you doctor it up with the same ingredients as in the Too Much Chocolate Cake recipe (substituting the cake mix itself, of course) it tastes almost identical to the recipe made with regular cake mix - which is super rich and super moist and super delicious!
Be sure to check out the ingredients in the chocolate chips you choose, as well as the pudding. Sometimes ingredients change but we know today that Jello chocolate pudding is gluten-free. Hershey's brand chocolate chips are too.

Ice Cream Cake

After stumbling across this how-to video of this recipe, I just had to make it.
It was a huge hit! It's so simple too.
After reading the reviews, I doubled the filling mixture so there was enough to add to the top. I used alot more cool whip to frost it before freezing. Right before I cut it to serve, coated it in more crushed Oreos.

Oreo Fudge and Ice Cream Cake

1/2 cup hot fudge ice-cream topping
1 (8 ounce) tub cool whip, thawed
1 (4 oz) pkg instant chocolate pudding
8 Oreos, crushed
12 vanilla ice-cream sandwiches, unwrapped

Pour fudge topping into a medium bowl. Add 1 cup of the whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 minutes or until well blended. Gently stir in chopped cookies; set aside.
Arrange 4 of the ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side on a 24-inch piece of foil; top with half of the whipped topping mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 4 ice cream sandwiches. Frost top and sides of dessert with remaining whipped topping. Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet.
Freeze at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftovers in freezer.

Bathroom Furniture

Once upon a time about 5 years ago, I became impatient with my guest bathroom. The year before, in an attempt to update things in there, I painted over the very dark laminate of the vanity and got rid of the matching wallpapered light switch cover. I so wish I had a before picture, but I do not.

It was better with the new paint and such but I was still not satisfied. I was thrifting one day and stopped at one of my favorite thrift stores but they weren't open. As I was leaving I noticed this awesome piece of furniture - a buffet - in the window. I was in love. I'm telling you I went back to that store and gazed at it through the window 3 more times before they were actually opened. It was one of those places where the owner shows up whenever they want to.

Anyway, they finally opened and I finally got in there, pushed all the other customers out of the way (not really) and bolted straight to the buffet, asked how much it was, whipped out my handy little tape measure to be sure and took it home. (It was 60 bucks - a no brainer.)

I left it the original color because it went well with the new wallpaper and paint I was going to use.

After pulling out the old vanity myself (when I get excited about a project I can't wait around for my husband to get home from work to help me), and installing a sink and new plumbing, after a few days this is how it turned out.


I was able to salvage some space in most of the drawers by cutting and rebuilding the drawers around the plumbing. For the drawer that's directly under the sink, I removed the actual drawer and then permanently screwed the drawer front back in place so it doesn't open at all.





Today I took these pics of the antique dresser turned vanity I helped make for a friend. She's very close to moving into her newly built gorgeous home after a fire destroyed her other gorgeous home over 2 years ago.

Here's the before.

The sink she bought prior to buying the dresser was slightly to big for the dresser top so she had a counter top made to fit the sink and I think it turned out beautiful! We were able to save almost the entire bottom drawer for toilet paper storage.





Doing that vanity for her got me more excited to do one for my master bathroom. I've been looking for a looooooong time to find a piece of furniture that is precisely the right measurements and just last week I lucked out and got this beauty.



(Only I talked him down to $110. ☺)

I hope I can have it done in the next few weeks.

Eat Your Veggies

My friend made this cake from a recipe of a friend of hers. She claims it's moist and delicious. I'm going to post it even though I didn't test it out myself but I trust her. ☺ Thanks Jeanette!!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 3/4 c. sugar
2 1/2 c. flour
2 eggs
4 Tbs. cocoa
2 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 c. sour milk or yogurt
1 t. vanilla
1 t. salt
1 t. baking soda
1 t. cinnamon
1 bag chocolate chips

Blend butter, oil & sugar. Then add all liquid ingredients. Then add cocoa and dry ingredients. Then add 1/2 the bag of chocolate chips. Pour into a sprayed 9x11 baking dish. Sprinkle the other 1/2 of chocolate chips on top. Sprinkle brown sugar on top. Bake at 350 for 30-35 min. (I did mine for 40 min and the middle was still gooey.)

IT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Apparently so. ☺

Duct Tape - How Do I Love You....

Let me show you one way.

On the hunt for a bolster pillow to go with my new black bench (yes, I kept it for myself), I found a nice $20 one at Ikea, which is a good price for as big and as nice as it is. But it was waaaaaay too big for the bench. I kind of knew it would be but I had a backup place to use it so I got it anyway. ☺

So, I had a thought to make a pillow the right size without sewing anything. In my opinion, some things just aren't worth taking the time to sew.

So I took an old king-size pillow and some good old duct tape - in fashionable colors - not that it matters - and folded the pillow in half and taped it like that. I thought about tying it with string, which would definitely work, but this was just way faster. Take note this is an old pillow, meaning not alot of poof left in it. I think a brand new one would be more difficult to tape down.



I promise that pillow has never been peed on.
It's just water-stained from going to bed with wet hair.


I put it in a bolster cover I already had (2 for 2.99) at Ikea, which I intend to change as soon as I find the right fabric to make a new one (that's definitely worth the time to sew) but for now this one is cute enough.

101 Things...

Tried this one from "101 Things To Do With Chocolate" by Stephanie Ashcraft.

Chocolate Chip Pudding Sandwich Cookies
1 white cake mix
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine cake mix, eggs and oil until cookie dough forms. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop teaspoons of dough onto a baking sheet. Bake 8-11 minutes or until lightly golden brown around the edges. Do not overcook. Allow cookies to cool. Place a scoop of the filling between 2 cookies. Store in refrigerator. Makes 15-18 sandwich cookies.

Filling
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 small box chocolate instant pudding mix

Whisk together the milk and peanut butter. Whisk in pudding mix and then refrigerate until ready to use.

*My kids liked these frozen.

Chocolate Chip Pie

Chocolate Chip Pie - a la Bridget

1 unbaked 9-inch deep dish pie crust
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup soft butter
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Preheat oven to 325°. Beat together eggs, flour, sugars and butter. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. Pour into pie crust. Bake 60 minutes or until center is almost set. Serve warm with ice cream and hot fudge sauce (if wanted).

Quick Cookies

The only cake mix cookies I've ever made before this one are the Rolo Cookies. There are so many possibilities! I bet this recipe would be good with a chocolate cake mix too.

In A Hurry Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 eggs

1/3 cup water

1/4 cup butter

1 cup peanut butter

1 (18.25 oz) pkg. yellow cake mix

2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream together the eggs, water, butter and peanut butter. Add the cake mix and blend well. Fold in chocolate chips. Drop by rounded spoonfuls onto cookie sheet. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Allow to cool on pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

*I added some chopped pecans to the last pan to go in the oven which made them even better.

Garbage To Gorgeous!

Okay, I just finished the headboard/footboard project - the one I got out of the garbage on the side of the road.

Here is the before, fresh from the trash.


And here is the after.




Yummy, huh? I really LOVE the black. I've made several of these and have never painted one black before. I'm very happy with the result. I may just have to find a place in my house instead of giving this one away.

Here are a few more.

As If They're Not Fattening Enough

Saw these in the latest issue of Food Network Magazine.

Deep-Fried Snickers On A Stick


4 large Snickers bars (we used the fun-size bars)
2 cups pancake mix, plus ingredients to make them
oil for frying

Unwrap and push each candy bar onto a skewer or popsicle stick. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight (we froze our fun-size ones for about an hour). Make the pancake batter while you heat the oil to 330°. Dip the Snickers into the batter, turning it with the skewer to coat. Carefully place the Snickers into the hot oil and fry, turning as needed, until crisp, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Remove with tongs and drain on paper towels. Serve warm.

We also made these:

Chocolate-Strawberry Waffle Ball On A Stick


12 large strawberries, hulled
6 oz semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
oil for frying
2 cups pancake/waffle mix, plus ingredients to make them
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Thread each strawberry onto a skewer. Place on a baking sheet and freeze for about 30 minutes. Melt the chocolate in the microwave. Dip the strawberries into the chocolate, turning to coat well. Freeze for another 15 minutes. Make the batter while you heat the oil. Dip the strawberries into the batter, turning to coat well. Fry in the hot oil 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Let drain on a paper towel for 5 to 10 minutes to let the chocolate re-harden. Dust with sugar.

How to get your children to eat WHOLE WHEAT

This is a "TRIED AND TRUE" easy whole wheat pancake recipe that my kids love. I recently made it for 3 of my nieces and they all loved it. Two of them kept on saying how much they LOVED them and the other one loved the pancakes until I told her they were whole wheat. She then turned to me and said...."Um, I didn't like them." That was after she ate them! Ha,Ha,Ha! So I guess the trick is don't tell them they are whole wheat. Some of you might be saying, "How is this a chocolate recipe?" Well the secret ingredient is Hershey's dark chocolate chips. :)

My husband asked for his to be served up this way!

SO here is the recipe......you need a box of Hodgson Mills Insta Bake (You can find it in the health food isle at PUBLIX) and then follow the pancake recipe on the back of the box.

These are the ingredients you will need....make sure you set your skillet between 250 and 300.....then pour the measured amounts all into the bowl.....mix together.......then add your desired amount of chocolate chips. (if you don't care for chocolate chips in your pancakes my children like it the same without chocolate chips.)

Then cook them up.....mmmmmm...mmmmmm..mm!

Beautiful!!!

Usually at this point I butter them up and then remove them from the skillet.

This is how I usually enjoy mine, but you can have some fun and present them..........

...........this way!

BON APETIT!

THESE ARE SO GOOD!

That's all I really need to say. Just trust me.

White Chocolate Chip Orange Cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 Tbsp orange zest
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350°. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg and orange zest. Stir the flour, baking soda and salt together and mix into the creamed mixture. Stir in the white chocolate chips and pecans. Drop by tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 2 minutes on pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 3 dozen.

I don't know what these are called...

I got this recipe off of allrecipes.com. I love how the recipes have a rating system and a place to leave comments about how it really tastes. It cracks me up how some people change like 9 out of the 10 ingredients and then rate it 5 stars.

We'll just call these...

Candy Pretzels
Mini square or round pretzels (I believe Snyder's calls them snaps. They're square, though I read in some places you can find round ones.)
Hershey Kisses
M&M's
Rolo's
Pecan halves

There are many variations to this little treat. We tried two. Place as many pretzels as you can fit onto a cookie sheet. Top each one with a Hershey Kiss. Place them in a 350° oven for about 2 minutes. You really have to watch them. Once the kisses are shiny, they are usually ready. Remove them from the oven and gently push the kiss down with a single M&M. Let them cool and then chill. This doesn't take long at all and kids are good helpers.
We also made them with a Rolo candy in place of the kiss and topped those with pecan halves. They were both good but I am partial to the Rolo ones. Yum!
I read about using Hugs or caramel Kisses. These would be a super easy and cute addition to your Christmas goodies plate for your neighbors this year if you use red and green M&M's. Or pink and red for Valentines Day...

(I put ours in the freezer to speed up the chilling process so they look a little frosty in the picture.)

Extreme Makeover - Barbie Edition

On a whim, my youngest daughter and I decided to surprise my oldest daughter and update the Barbie house.

With some scrapbook paper, glue and imagination we went to work.
We wall-papered and made chair rails and wall-hangings.


Check out the chenille shag carpet.

The upstairs guest room needs furniture and the bathtub is AWOL (it's probably in the real bathtub) so that's why the top floor is kinda bare.

Chocolate Beauty

We made a Chocolate Facial Mask for a chocolate-themed girls night a while back. I don't have any pictures of it but it was fun and finger-lickin' good. :) We gave a sample of the mask to everyone to take home and try. It truly makes your skin baby soft. We also made Chocolate Lip Gloss to give away to everyone. We put the chocolate mask samples in a plastic baggie so all they had to do was snip off the end and squeeze it out. You can buy lip gloss containers in various shapes and sizes on the internet, just google it and compare prices.

Chocolate Facial Mask
1/3 cup cocoa
3 Tbsp heavy cream
1/4 cup honey
3 tsp oatmeal powder

To get oatmeal powder, just pulverize it in the blender. Mix all ingredients together and smooth onto face. Relax for 10 minutes, then wash off with warm water.

Chocolate Lip Gloss
2 tsp Vaseline
1/8 tsp honey
5 chocolate chips (milk chocolate for light color, semisweet for dark color
1/8 tsp shortening

Mix all ingredients in a microwaveable container. Microwave, uncovered on high power for 20 seconds. Stir. Repeat until chips are fully melted. Pour into a small jar and freeze 15 minutes or until solid. Then apply it to your lips. Makes about 1 Tbsp of gloss.
*I remember adding a little beeswax (craft stores) to the mixture to firm it more.

Kids In The Kitchen

So, our cool friends from Utah are here and of course,
as usual we have been eating too much.
Yesterday we made a delicious treat from a
cute little cookbook they brought.


Here's the one we tried. Unlike some recipes from kids cookbooks I've tried, these were actually really good! Like better than a Fat Boy good. (Although I don't really like the taste of sprinkles so I could have lived without those.)

Ice Cream Sandwiches
1 chocolate cake mix, with pudding in the mix
2 eggs
1/4 cup warm water
3 Tbsp melted butter
2 cups vanilla ice cream, softened
Colored sugars and/or sprinkles

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line 13x9 inch pan with foil; spray with cooking spray. Beat cake mix, eggs, water and butter in large bowl with electric mixer at low speed until blended. Press dough into prepared pan; prick surface evenly with fork. Bake 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack.
2. Cut cookie in half; remove half from pan. Spread ice cream over cookie in pan. Top with second half; wrap with foil. Freeze 4 hours. Cut into squares; dip into sugars.
Makes 8 sandwiches.

Blondes Are Better

An old family recipe that has been around since before our parents got married 50 years ago. We ate it this past weekend with homemade ice-cream....made with heavy cream this time....so it was totally fat free. ☺

Blonde Brownies
2 sticks butter
1 box (1 lb) light brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 3/4 cups self-rising flour
1 (12 oz) bag chocolate chips
(I like to use a half bag of semi-sweet and a half bag of milk chocolate)

You can do this all by hand without messing up a mixer. Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from heat and mix in brown sugar and vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, then flour. Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake at 350° for about 25 minutes.

Aloha!

Our church had a luau this past weekend and using some of Jill's brilliant ideas, we had some cool decorations.
Here are a couple of simple things we did.

I think this is originally a Martha Stewart idea. We took regular white Christmas lights and put a silk hibiscus flower over each light on the strand. The flowers were actually petals from lei's purchased from Walmart. They worked perfectly because they already had holes in the center of them just big enough to stretch over the light bulb. Otherwise we would have had to punch holes in the centers of about 600 flowers.


You could use this idea for many different themes. Weddings,
birthdays, etc. They look so pretty all lit up.
I forgot to take pictures of them hanging up at the luau
so here they are on my driveway. ☺


Jill has access to bamboo growing on some property she owns. We chain-sawed some down and then used a miter saw to cut them into varying heights and then tied hemp cord around each one and used them as centerpieces.
They turned out really cute.


I didn't know this until I saw it but each line or ridge on a bamboo pole is like a built-in shelf on the inside.
This made it easy to fill with white sand and a tea light.
I forgot to take pictures of these by themselves at the luau too, but you can sort of see it here. The tea lights were pushed down into the sand more on most of the centerpieces.


Plenty of summer left for a luau! ☺

Decadent

Cream Cheese Cherry Brownies
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup chopped maraschino cherries
1 tsp maraschino cherry juice
1 egg
1 box fudge brownie mix
water, oil and eggs to make the brownies

Heat oven to 350°. Grease bottom of 8 or 9 inch square pan. Beat cream cheese, sugar, cherries, cherry juice and 1 egg. Set aside.
Make brownie batter according to directions on box. Spread half of batter in pan. Spread cream cheese mixture over batter. Spoon remaining batter on top; spread gently to cover the best you can.
Bake about 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before cutting. Store covered in fridge.
*I added a little more of the chopped cherries and it still had a pretty subtle cherry taste so if you want more cherry and less chocolate taste, then I would double the chopped cherries. This would also be good with a chocolate frosting with maybe some cherry juice mixed in.
I'm kind of tired of typing the word "cherry" now. It's starting to look weird.

Chocolate Oatmeal Cake

Let's just pretend I didn't change the post date and really did post this on Monday. :)

Chocolate Oatmeal Cake
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 1/2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Topping:
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup plus 1 Tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 cups flaked coconut
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
6 Tbsp half and half
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a bowl, combine the oats and boiling water. Let stand for 15 minutes or until cooled. In a large mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each one. Add the oat mixture, mix well. Combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture.
Transfer to a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Combine the topping ingredients; spoon over top of warm cake; broil about 4 inches from heat for 3-4 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Garbage Digger

Look what I found in someone's trash.


It's not what it is. It's what it will become.

Stay tuned.

I Scream

It's getting pretty hot around these parts so yesterday we cooled off a little with some homemade ice cream. This is the easiest, yummiest recipe around. We had it with chocolate cupcakes for a cute little 2-year-old's birthday. ☺

Vanilla Ice Cream
4 cups half and half
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2 Tbsp vanilla

Mix it all together and pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Crush about a half package of Oreo's (or fruit, or your favorite mix-in) and stir it in when the ice cream is done. Makes about 12 small servings.

Happy summer!

Cutie Pies

I love this Pie In A Jar idea I've been seeing lately. You just get some 4 oz canning jars (Walmart), press some pie crust into the jar, along the bottom and up the sides most of the way. Add some pie filling and then use the band from the lid to cut a circle to press and pinch onto the top. I think it's necessary to cut open the top a little for breathing room. But these can be frozen and then popped into the oven straight from the freezer. Remember to take the entire lid off, put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 350° for about 15 minutes or until you see through the jar that the crust is starting to brown.




Then, of course I had to try it my own way and made some using my all time favorite pie recipe. Here is the original recipe:

Cookie Crust Lemon Pie

1 pkg (20 oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
2 eggs
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 1/2 cups boiling water
2 Tbsp butter
yellow food coloring, optional
additional sugar

Cut the package of cookie dough in half. Put one half in the freezer to keep firm while you prepare the filling. Press other half into bottom and up sides of pie pan. In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch and eggs. Mix well. Over medium heat, add the lemon juice and boiling water, stirring constantly. Cook and stir until it boils and thickens, then cook 1 minute longer. Remove from heat. Add the butter and stir until melted. Add food coloring if desired (I usually don't. Au natural is good for me). Pour into the crust. Cut remaining cookie dough into 16 rounds. Place rounds over top of pie filling. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Sprinkle with sugar. Cool completely, then chill in fridge completely for a few hours before serving.

To adapt it for the jars I just smooshed the cookie dough into the jar just like the pie crust, filled it with the lemon filling and then cut a thin slice of the dough to lay on top.





I think I put too much of the filling or cookie dough or both because this is what happened in the oven.


I should have taken into account how much cookie dough expands. There's always next time. It sure didn't affect the taste though. Yum!!

Now you can have a piece of pie anytime or a tasty little gift for someone!

Oh Mama!!

These are to die for. They're similar to the yummy Cake Balls but different. Here are a few variations we tried. You may want to come up with your own concoction.

Truffles

1. Crush an entire package of regular Oreo's by putting them in a large Ziploc and beating them with a meat mallet or a rolling pin. Crush them as fine as you can. Mix them in a mixer with 1 block of softened cream cheese until well blended together. Roll them into little balls, place them on a wax paper covered cookie sheet. Put them in the fridge for about an hour. Then dip them into some melted chocolate chips (I prefer Milk Chocolate). Use a toothpick or slotted spoon, whatever works best for you. Set them on the wax paper to harden. I will probably thin out the melted chocolate chips with a little Crisco next time to make the dipping part easier and prettier. After you dip them you can either put them back in the fridge or eat them right away.

2. Crush 3 Butterfinger bars and add them to the crushed Oreo's and then proceed as above.

3. Crush a package of Nutter Butters instead of Oreo's and then proceed as above.

Rice Is Nice

Rich Rice Pudding

4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups half and half
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup cooked rice, cooled
4 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped

Preheat oven to 325°. In a large bowl beat together eggs, half and half, sugar, cocoa and vanilla. Stir in rice and chocolate. Pour custard mixture into a 1 1/2 qt or 2 qt casserole. Place dish in a 9x13 baking pan. Carefully pour 1 inch of boiling water into the 9x13 pan (not the pudding!!)
Bake uncovered for 60-65 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
To serve, spoon warm pudding into bowls. Pour 1 to 2 tablespoons Molasses-Chocolate Sauce over each serving. Serves 6-8.

Molasses-Chocolate Sauce

1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1/3 cup water
2 Tbsp chocolate syrup (like Hershey's)
1 Tbsp molasses
Combine the brown sugar and cornstarch. Stir in the water, chocolate syrup and molasses. Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.