Sunday, November 20, 2011

Christmas Project






I cased the card from Splitcoaststamper's, York peppermint candies, with a punch out on top,
memo pads from WalMart, gift tags. I think these will turn out well, and be well received.


Hope everyone's holiday preparations are coming along nicely.



Patrice

Christmas Project






This is this years Christmas project. Inside is cards, tags, candy, memo pad. 12 inch pizza box.
Easy, quick, and stuff anyone could use. I have planned to do at least 20 of these boxes. Go flash
your biggest smile at your neighborhood pizza place, that's what I did, they let me buy the boxes for
a quarter a piece.  I was thrilled, very reasonable gifts for co-workers, and friends.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

My best chocolate cake so far


The hubs wanted a little office soiree at our backyard pool, patted me on the head, said not to worry about food preparations, he had it all handled. Our local favorite bbq joint would take care of the major workload, so I got to add my own personal touches. So looking over some recipes, I picked out a truly deep south cake recipe, tweaked it a little, and was pleased with the results. But I was not pleased when the caterers arrived with nothing but potato salad and ribs. Okay Dave, where is the beans,coleslaw, all the other stuff that goes on the plate around the meat. He didn't order it, because according to his stomach, all it takes is potato salad and ribs to make HIM happy. I was dumbfounded, astonished at his total ignorance, had one hour before 30 people showed up for dinner. Threw open the cabinets, pulled out cans of ranch style beans, mixed them with a can of grilling beans (thank you Bush family), threw them in the oven, and put a pasta salad together, along with a fruit salad. I guess the old saying if you want something done right, do it yourself, and don't depend on someone who thinks potato salad should be a food group.
Okay, for my recipe
Dr Pepper Cake
Mix in a large bowl
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
In a saucepan bring to a boil
1 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup Dr Pepper
1/2 cup buttermilk
When heated, pour into flour mixture, mix with a whisk
add
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract.
Throw in a handful of chocolate chips, more chocolate the better in my book
Bake 30 minutes 350 degrees 9x13 pan, do not over bake this
For the icing
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup Dr Pepper
another dash of cinnamon
Bring to a boil, then stir in 4 cups of powdered sugar, 1/2 cup chopped walnuts,
pour over hot cake.
Yum, rich, gooey,chocolate heaven.
Hope you enjoy this, especially with barbeque
Patrice

Friday, August 5, 2011

New Bathroom


Finally, new bathrooms. I have got to start decorating. Yeah for Canfield construction.

New Bathroom


Finally, new bathrooms. Good bye to the old fiberglass bathtubs that were beyond a disgrace.
Yeah for Canfield construction, the whole team did a great job.

New Bathroom


Sunday, July 31, 2011

New Bathroom

Finally, hubby broke down, opened up the wallet, and had the bathrooms remodeled. I guess he figured it was cheaper than a divorce, honestly, the bathrooms were beyond a disgrace. New porcelain bathtubs, granite countertops, custom cabinets. Now just gotta start the decorating.

New Bathroom


Monday, July 4, 2011

Hooray for the Red, White, and Yummy


I felt like some holiday baking, and thisn Pioneer Woman cookie recipe worked pretty well. Easy to cut out, cookies did not lose shape as they baked. I will tell you about my tweaks as I go along.
Pioneer Woman Cut Out Cookies
2/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
4 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg yolks, separated
2 tbsp water
food coloring
Cream the shortening, and sugar until creamy. Add milk,vanilla, and stir in rest of ingredients.
Let dough chill for at least a half an hr, then roll out. I will add a little more milk next time, the dough was just a little crumbly. You want these cookies a little thick when rolled out. Whne the cookies are all cut out, and on cookie sheets, mix the egg yolks, water, and food coloring. Take a pastry brush and brush the egg mixture over the cookies, then bake 350 degrees 8-10 minutes.
When the cookies are baked, make the glaze.
1 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
The glaze needs to be fairly thick, so it won't flow all over the cookies. Spoon the glaze in a pastry bag, or ziploc bag and snip a corner off. Drizzle the glaze on the cooled cookies, and let the glaze dry. I may use, vanilla/almond extract in the dough next time. These are easy, and yummy.
Happy 4th
Patrice

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Been busy,busy,busy

These are a few of my baby gifts, burp cloths,crochet blanket, covered diaper wipe case. I am going to get my embroidery machine out, get the dust off it, and see what I can whip up. Lots of fun making unique gifts, no others out there like it. lol


Patrice

Babies are on the way.





Chicken Taco Pizza



Even after a busy night of call at the ER, and the boy's t-ball game, hubby still got dinner fixed for tonight, after I got my nap of course. I got the idea from Pioneer Woman's site, Taco pizza. I had to lighten up the initial recipe, because I don't have a group of hungry ranch hands to feed, but we we were both pleased with the results, and this will feed three people generously, I had leftovers.









Chicken taco Pizza






1 package Martha White pizza crust



2 tbsp taco seasoning



1 large chicken breast, sliced thinly



1/2 cup black beans, drained



1 medium onion, diced



two cups of lettuce, shredded



1 large tomato, diced



cilantro, black olives, sour cream,salsa



shredded cheese






Mix up the pizza crust mix per package instructions, and I added some garlic powder to the dough. Heat a large skillet, sautee the chicken, and onion, sprinkle with the taco seasoning, watch closely so it doesn't scorch. I always use a pizza stone, lightly grease it with some olive oil,and roll the dough out on the stone, you want it thin. Sprinkle the dough with the chicken mixture, and black beans. Bake in a hot oven, like 500 degrees for about 10 minutes. The hot oven will crisp the crust. Bring out of the oven, sprinkle with lettuce,tomato, olives. use a pizza cutter, cut in slices. I stirred some salsa into a half cup of sour crea, served this on the side. Some sliced avocado would of been great with this, will try to remember next time.






Great recipe for some of our fresh garden veggies. I used a lower fat shredded cheese,light sour cream, so this was not a diet buster.









Enjoy.









Patrice



Thursday, April 28, 2011

You can't see the stamping on front of the card, but I think they came out really nice. I used a shimmer paint spray on the butterflies, embossing, distressing, die cuts. These cards have it all.


Friday, April 22, 2011

Home room mother on Easter patrol



Envision this tray with cookies, dipped pretzels, jellybeans, along with these boxes I made for the boys classes. I spent some time with my Cuttlebug, stamps, adhesive gun, and got all sticky and inky. But they had a great time, the school had a egg hunt for all the elementary classes.



Next week, zoo trip.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

A Yummy Recipe

Wow, February already, Valentine's Day weekend. I have the boys boxes all ready for their class party,and have got another batch of cookies out of the oven. And I have a new recipe. I found this on the Weight Watchers Message Board, and it just is really tasty.

Creamy Reuben Soup

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
1/4 cup butter,cubed
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 cup beef broth
2 cups half and half
1/4 pound sliced deli corned beef
3/4 cup sauerkraut, drained, and rinsed well
1 cup (4 oz) swiss cheese shredded , or chopped in small pieces.
Salt and pepper to taste.


In large saucepan, saute the onion, celery,pepper in melted butter until tender.
Stir in the flour until blended,gradually add the broth. Bring to a boil, cook two
minutes until thickened. Reduce heat to low, stir in half and half, corned beef,
and sauerkraut. Do not boil. Stir in cheese until melted.

1 cup 340 calories, 26 grams fat,10 carbs.

I used low sodium broth, and fat free half and half,and margarine, so I lowered the fat and calories. The only major change I would make is use a little less cream, make the soup
a little thicker, but this is so quick, easy, and I served with flatbread crackers.

I know there are some sauerkraut lovers out there, try this, you will love it.


Patrice