Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Hippie Vest

This Hippie Vest is a very easy costume, you can add as much or as little to it as you want. I grabbed Sam as she came home from school so all she would do is put the vest on. You can add a head band and a psychedelic shirt. Or maybe blue jean skirt with boots......Groovy





Monday, September 27, 2010

Indian Gurl Costume

I finished my Indian gurl costume
and I have been waiting for Amy to visit me so I could get a picture of her in it, I asked Sam to model for me and she said "NO". It zips in the back and has criss-cross hand stitching at the breast line. I decorated flip flops to match, an arm band and waist/head band. It has two conchos on the side and fringe on the bottom. The stripe going down the back view is just my camera reflecting off of the mirror, it is just an illusion. Pocahontas would be so jealous.



Sunday, September 26, 2010

It's Apple Pickin Time

It's apple picking time and if your
lucky enough to live by an apple
orchard you should visit one as soon as possible. I don't live by one but my husband loves apple pie and around this time of year I feel the need to bake apple pie. Apple cider, apple pie, applesauce, caramel dipped apples and did you know apples help lower bad cholesterol? I guess an apple a day really does keep the doctor away. I thought I would share with you my apple pie recipe. I found it in a magazine but it has been some years so I don't remember which one, I should write these things down but who knew I would be blogging.
Donna's Pie crust
This will make two 8" or 9" or one 10" pie crust.
2 cups of flour
1 teaspoon of salt
2/3 cup of shortening
5-7 tablespoons of cold water
Cut the shortening into the sifted flour and salt until grainy, add enough cold water to make the dough hold together. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate.
Apple Pie
Peel, core and slice 6 apples, Granny Smith is a good brand but you should use a firm apple that holds up well when baked. I use my Pampered Chef apple contraption, it cuts the time in half.
1/4 cup of sugar
2 tablespoons of flour
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
Mix the ingredients and pour it over the apples and toss.
I have a cutting sheet with a 10" circle drawn on one side, I flour the sheet and roll my dough out making sure I cover the circle. I flip the sheet over onto my pie plate, peel the sheet off, trim the edges and put fork holes in the bottom so it wont bubble up, bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, remove it from the oven.
Crumb Topping
1/3 cup of soft Parkay butter
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of flour
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
Mix all the ingredients together. Pour the apples into the pie crust, drop the crumb topping over the apples and pat down. Bake at 375 degrees, cover the pie with foil for 35 minutes, remove the foil and bake 15 more minutes. I forgot to set the timer for the last 15 minutes so it baked a little longer than it should have but my husband didn't even notice. All he knows is his wife slaved in the kitchen and made this wonderful pie for him




Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Smoked Paprika

I have been seeing this new spice in a lot of recipes and I decided to try it out. Walmart didn't have it the first time I looked but it was there the other day so I grabbed a jar of it, Smoked Paprika. The first time I remember using Paprika was when I was younger and my mom asked me to sprinkle some onto her deviled eggs, that is the only food item I ever remember using it on. Well let me tell you this Smoked Paprika is fantastic, I made some deviled eggs and sprinkled it on top and WOW! Then I mixed some in my hamburger meat then made patties, another WOW, and just this morning I sprinkled some on my scrambled eggs.....WOW! If you come to my house for dinner expect some Smoked Paprika on everything I cook, I'm going to try it on chicken next. Did I mention the smell? You can actually smell the smokey flavor which adds to the whole experience. I used to use Hickory Smoked salt on a lot of the foods I made but it became harder and harder to find and that is what this reminds me of. Grab a jar and let me know what you use it on.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

This is why they call me "Cookie Mom"

These are by far my favorite cookies. It is a chocolate cake like cookie with a Rolo candy inside ...yum! I wish computers were scratch and sniff capable because this cookie is to die for. I made these for my daughter and she would take them to school, the limit was two cookies unless it was your birthday. I received a note one day saying they were going to kidnap my daughter in ransom for some of these cookies, You might ask yourself what did she do? I made some cookies!!

Caramel Chocolate Cookies



1 cup of soft Parkay margarine

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of baking soda

3/4 cup of unsweet cocoa

2 1/2 rounded cups of flour

55-60 Rolo candies (unwrapped)



In a large bowl combine butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs, mix well. Stir in baking soda and cocoa. Stir in flour. Refrigerate for 1 hour. Set oven to 375 degrees and flour your work surface. I use my Pampered Chef 1 tablespoon scoop to scoop out the dough and place it on your floured surface. I usually get 15 cookies on a 17" x 11" pan. Place a Rolo on the dough and press down, with floured hands roll the dough around the Rolo and place it onto your pan, you do not need to grease your pans, there is enough butter in these cookies to keep them from sticking. Bake for 9-10 minutes or till slightly cracked. I cut one cookie open straight out of the oven and you can see it is slightly gooey on the inside, everything you bake continues to cook even when you pull it out of the oven, so don't over bake these cookies. I do the same for my cakes, so pull them out just before they're done because they will sit in that 350 degree pan for at least 10 minutes.








Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Even Super Hero's Wear Masks

Tired? Stressed? Not enough sleep? Put on a mask and be somebody else. Batman and Spiderman do it, why not us? Let's face it you do it anyway, maid, cook, taxi, employee, sometimes I'm three things at one time, (Mom's are good that way). Maybe today I don't want to be the taxi driver, so what if I go pick the kids up with my new mask on. What is that you said, you want to ride the bus? OK, I won't wear my mask to
pick the kids up but it would be
funny, my kids would just die! But it was fun making the mask, first I mod podged some scrapbook paper onto a piece of black posterboard and then I added a coat of mod podge to the front of the scrapbook paper. After it dried I drew the shape onto the posterboard and
cut it out with an exacto knife.
I hot glued some fringe and jewels on, now all I need to do is paint a food skewer green and hot glue it to one side of the mask. Maybe some feathers would be nice also.






Straw Buddies

Aren't these the cutest straws you've ever seen? They are my straw buddies and I plan on using them at different occasions. The bat is of course for Halloween (spooky), I cut the bat shape from black construction paper and gave him 2 glitter glue eyes. After his eyes dried I cut a W shape with an exacto knife for fangs and just a slit across the bottom, slip a straw through and there you have it. For the butterfly I just cut the shape out and used a punch for the straw to slip through. Next time I will make 2 slits with an exacto knife, it is a lot faster. Now I realize these will be thrown away so I'm not adding a lot of fancy stuff but for a tea party I would probably add jewels to the butterflies or glue a smaller butterfly to the front of the larger one and then make my slits.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Queen of Hearts Skirt

I quit my job last Wednesday and I am looking for another one but the in between hours are long and boring. I'm doing yard work and sewing and since Halloween is next month I thought I would get a head start on some costumes. My first skirt is for the Queen of Hearts, it is two separate pieces and the bottom skirt can also be used as a Racing skirt. Now, my normal model (Amy) is working so I have to use my reluctant model, Sam. Now she does not like doing this and and her expressions say it all, but she does look cute in the pictures. I haven't sewn the top yet so she is just wearing the T-Shirt she had on but the black does look good so I will probably make a black vest and it will fit over a white shirt. I hope I get a job soon or this child might want to hurt me...Off with her head!


Thursday, September 2, 2010

Maple Syrup Cookies....Yum

I have to say this is one of my favorite cookies. It is like a sugar cookie with maple syrup in it. These do not have frosting on them but if they did it would be a maple flavored frosting. I like Country Kitchen syrup, it is artificially flavored and you get a mild maple flavored cookie. For a stronger maple flavor I would mix corn syrup and maple flavoring. Who doesn't love maple syrup? In the picture I have included my Pampered Chef scoop....I love that scoop. I also have a Pampered Chef clay baking sheet that never leaves my oven. I just place the cookie sheets and baking pans right on top of it and all of my baked goods cook evenly all over, no more burnt bottoms.
Maple Syrup Cookies
1/2 cup of Parkay margarine
1/2 cup of shortening
1 cup of brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 heaping cup of maple syrup (your flavor)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
3 1/4 cups of flour

Cream butter and shortening, add sugars, eggs, vanilla and maple syrup. Stir in salt, baking powder and flour. I like to refrigerate mine for at least 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop by tablespoon onto oil sprayed cookie sheet and bake for 12-13 minutes. Do not over bake. the tops will not be browned but the bottoms should be slightly browned.

Rain-X is What We Do For the Ones We Love

There are certain products on the market that I absolutely love and Rain-X is one of them. You wipe it on your windshield, buff it off and when it rains it just beads off. You will be amazed at how well you can see in the rain. I have tried the anti-fog products but I would not suggest using those and do not put Rain-X on the inside of your windows. As soon as my daughter bought her car and brought it home I was outside putting Rain-X on her windshield. She is a teenage driver and I want to make sure she can see when she is driving, I worry about the others who don't have Rain-X on their windshield and can't see her. I put some on my mom's old car, when she bought her new car I took my bottle over there and she told me she was going to call me to see if I would put it on her new car, you betcha mom! If I ran the country I would make it a law that they have to put it on when you get your vehicle inspected. You have to have your kids in a booster seat in the car until their 4' 9" tall but who cares if your mom can see? I care!!! I apply it on the family's vehicle twice a year and we use Rain-X windshield fluid. The windshield fluid alone is not good enough and it only takes me about 5 minutes per vehicle. So....for the ones you love and care about use Rain-X. No, I do not own stock in Rain-X but I wish I did!