Marshmallow Eggs (or hearts)

I look back on Easter and remember these marshmallow eggs with great fondness. It was always to fun to savor the one Mom decorated especially for me! I hadn't made them myself because they looked daunting, but they were fairly easy. The most difficult part was picking up the gelatin packets at the store since I didn't have any on hand.  I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!

Marshmallow Eggs (or hearts)

INGREDIENTS:
6 Tbsp. cold water
2 packages unflavored gelatin
½ C. water
1½ C. sugar
food coloring (if desired)
flour to fill 2 (9x13) pans- 2/3 full
3-D hearts or eggs to make indentations (plastic easter eggs are perfect)
1 tsp. vanilla or flavoring
pinch of salt
melted chocolate

DIRECTIONS:

Soften gelatin in 6 Tbsp. water. Add sugar to ½ C. water in saucepan and bring to a boil to remove from heat and add gelatin mixtures.Stir until dissolved. Cool to barely warm in fridge.

In the meantime, smooth flour in pans and make indentations. Beat mixture with electric mixer until fluffy like whipped cream, but not set. Add coloring, flavoring, and a pinch of salt .Mix. Fill indents with marshmallow filling. Cool 20 minutes in fridge. Remove marshmallows and flip over to coat in flour. Shake off excess. Dip into melted chocolate and place on wax paper. Decorate when chocolate is hardened.

Chocolate Nutella & Sea Salt Fudge

Christmas is coming, the Goose is getting fat..... 10 points to anybody who knows that song! Moving on, I love Nutella and love fudge so when I saw a recipe that combined the two, I knew I had to try it. I was supposed to bring a treat to a party and decided to give this recipe a go! I might have overdosed on it while it was in the "taste testing" stage. OK, I couldn't stop eating it. The good thing is: a little fudge goes a long ways. Once I cut them up into pieces and put them in their own mini cupcake liners, there was plenty to go around.

I love salt but was a little afraid of putting it on the fudge. The combination went together, surprisingly, well. I gave this recipe 4★. A rich holiday treat for my favorite holiday!

Here is the recipe from Tasty Kitchen

Chocolate Nutella & Sea Salt Fudge

Ingredients
1 Tablespoon Butter, For Greasing Pan
1 can (14 Oz) Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
8 ounces, weight High-quality Bittersweet (60%) Chocolate Chips
1 cup Nutella (chocolate-hazelnut Spread), Room Temperature
3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature, Cut Into 1/2-inch Pieces
½ teaspoons (approximately) Sea Salt
Preparation Instructions

Grease the bottom and sides of an 8- by 8-inch baking pan with butter. Line the pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch overlap on the sides.

In a medium glass or stainless steel bowl, stir together sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, bittersweet chocolate chips, Nutella, and butter.

Form a double-boiler by setting the bowl over a medium pot of gently simmering water. The water level should be low enough that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water. Stir until the chocolate chips are melted and the mixture is smooth, 5 to 7 minutes.

Scrape the mixture into the prepared pan, spread the top smooth with a spatula, and sprinkle with sea salt. Refrigerate until the fudge is firm, at least 2 hours.

Once the fudge is chilled, run a knife under hot water, dry it off, and run it around the edges of the pan to loosen the fudge. Using the overhanging parchment paper, lift the fudge out. Peel off the parchment paper. Cut the fudge into 3/4-inch squares. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container or wrapped well in plastic wrap and foil.

Kitty Litter Cake

You might be asking yourself if the owner of this blog has gone crazy because she is posting pictures of her cat's litter box. This, my friends, is actually a cake made to look like a litter box. I've been wanting to make this recipe for a long time but never had the chance until recently. We had a Fear Factor activity with our church youth and I decided this would be the perfect dessert to end the night. You could use this for Halloween, April Fool's Day, or a farewell cake for the awful co-worker you couldn't stand (tehe). 

While it was very life like and everybody liked it, it wasn't the best cake I've ever had. In reality, you could make any cake and cover it with the cookie crumbs and tootsie rolls to get the same effect. Nonetheless, I'll post the recipe I used from the Allrecipes site:

Kitty Litter Cake

via allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS:

1 (18.25 ounce) package German
chocolate cake mix
1 (18.25 ounce) package white cake mix
2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
1 (12 ounce) package vanilla sandwich cookies
3 drops green food coloring
1 (12 ounce) package tootsie rolls

DIRECTIONS:
1. Prepare cake mixes and bake according to package directions (any size pan).
2. Prepare pudding according to package directions and chill until ready to assemble.
3. Crumble sandwich cookies in small batches in a food processor, scraping often. Set aside all but 1/4 cup. To the 1/4 cup add a few drops of green food coloring and mix.
4. When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble them into a large bowl. Toss with 1/2 of the remaining cookie crumbs, and the chilled pudding. You probably won't need all of the pudding, you want the cake to be just moist, not soggy.
5. Line kitty litter box with the kitty litter liner. Put cake mixture into box.
6. Put half of the unwrapped tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat until softened. Shape the ends so that they are no longer blunt, and curve the tootsie rolls slightly. Bury tootsie rolls randomly in the cake and sprinkle with half of the remaining cookie crumbs. Sprinkle a small amount of the green colored cookie crumbs lightly over the top.
7. Heat 3 or 4 of the tootsie rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them on top of the cake and sprinkle lightly with some of the green cookie crumbs. Heat the remaining tootsie rolls until pliable and shape as before. Spread all but one randomly over top of cake mixture. Sprinkle with any remaining cookie crumbs. Hang the remaining tootsie roll over side of litter box and sprinkle with a few green cookie crumbs. Serve with the pooper scooper for a gross Halloween dessert.

Make-Ahead Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bake

I could NOT stop eating this. In fact, I wasn't feeling that well after dinner because I ate so much. It was that good! A few extra steps in this recipe for a breakfast bake but it was so worth it. My husband and sister also thought it was excellent. You could easily make this for this conference weekend or Christmas morning as a special treat. The bread is firm and not soggy, and everything is just the perfect mix. Seriously, try this recipe!

Make-Ahead Sausage and Egg Breakfast Bake
(via Mel's Kitchen Cafe)


INGREDIENTS:
1 (14-inch) loaf Italian bread, ends trimmed (I used French because I didn't want to splurge on Italian.)
1 1/2 pounds bulk pork sausage ( I used 2 lbs because of the packaging)
1 small onion, chopped fine
3 cups shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese
12 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups 1% milk
1 ½ teaspoons table salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon hot sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat the oven to 400 degrees F. Slice bread in half lengthwise then slice each half into ½ inch-thick slices. Spread the bread in single layers on two rimmed baking sheets and bake until golden, 10-15 minutes, flipping bread and switching and rotating sheets halfway through (or bake one sheet pan at a time). Take care not to let the bread burn – it should be golden brown and toasted. Let the bread cool for 15 minutes.

In a large skillet over medium heat, cook the sausage and onion until the pork is no longer pink, breaking the meat into bite-sized pieces as it cooks.

Lightly coat a 9X13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. Shingle half of the bread in the prepared pan so that the edges overlap slightly (a couple of times when I’ve made this, my slices weren’t long enough to shingle so I just placed the bread in a single layer and it worked fine). Top with half of the sausage mixture and 1 cup cheese. Repeat with remaining bread, remaining sausage mixture, and remaining cheese.
In a large bowl, whisk eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and hot sauce together. Pour evenly over the assembled casserole. Place the casserole on a rimmed baking sheet and wrap the casserole with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap lightly on the top of the casserole. Fill another 9X13-inch dish with cans of food (beans, fruit, whatever) and nest the weighted dish on top of the assembled casserole. You’ll be glad you placed the assembled casserole on a rimmed baking sheet at this point as there may be a bit of spillage over the sides as the casserole compacts. This will help the bread soak up the egg mixture. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours.

When ready to bake, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees F. Let casserole stand at room temperature while the oven is heating. Remove weights, unwrap casserole, and bake until the edges and center have puffed and the top is golden brown, about 1 hour. Let it cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Candy Cane Christmas Tree Skirt

I looked for a Christmas tree skirt for years that would go with my gingerbread/candy themed Christmas tree. I was overjoyed when my sister pulled out her (almost) finished tree skirt and declared she did not want it anymore. It was perfect for me! I just sewed on the red trimming and it was finished.(Don't ask me how to do the rest because I don't know) We've enjoyed having such a cute skirt this year!

JINGLE ALL THE WAY Shadow box

 

Another Pinterest project complete! My sister spotted this shadow box at the D.I. and knew it would be perfect for this project. 

So here's what I did:

Spray painted shadow box black

Picked out Christmas paper and glued it to the back wall of the shadow box

Found jingle bells that fit the shadow box (at the D.I. also) and put them into the shadow box

Cut vinyl saying out with the Cricut machine

Tied ribbon around the frame and added a bow on top.

It make me happy!

Give Thanks!

Even though I am late posting this, I was able to enjoy my Give Thanks blocks through the Thanksgiving holiday. The process was identical to my BEWARE blocks, just different paper and I painted the blocks brown instead. I am very happy with the end result!

BEWARE SIGN!!!

Seriously, my new addiction is Pinterest. It's a non-creative person's (like me) DREAM COME TRUE! There are so many inspirational ideas. I originally got this inspiration from this pin.

To start off with, I cut 2X4s and 2X6s  to different lengths and played around with them until I liked the look of them. After sanding them, paint the blocks black. (After painting-I also sanded them a little around the edges to make them look worn.)  I picked out Halloween paper and cut it to the block sizes. I mod podged the paper onto the blocks, added a coat on the top, smoothed out the paper, and let it dry. After it was dry, I just cut out vinyl on a Cricut machine and slapped them on the blocks.

Since we had most of the stuff on hand, it only cost me like $4 for the paint and paper. We also made our own mod podge by mixing 50/50 elmer's glue and water and it worked well.

I LOVE the way the turned out. Happy Halloween!

Free ADORABLE St.Patrick's Day Printable

 It's almost St.Patrick's Day and once again, I don't have any decorations. I found this absolutely adorable free printable over here at Funky Polka-dot Giraffe.

I just printed out the 8x10 size on photo paper and went to the dollar store and picked out a frame. I love it because it really does look like buttons (even fooled my husband. "Uh, where did you get all those colored buttons?").

Happy St.Patrick's Day!

Kristy's Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Growing up, the sweetest lady in our church made the BEST sugar cookies. You felt lucky if she ever brought you a plate. Her recipe has become legendary in my home neighborhood. Luckily, she's one of those people that think recipes are made for sharing. Hallelujah! Here's her recipe:

Kristy's Sour Cream Sugar Cookies

Ingredients:
1 C. butter
3 eggs
1 ½ C. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
1 C. sour cream
touch of salt
5 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar together. Add eggs and vanilla. Blend in sour cream. Slowly fold in the rest of the ingredients. Blend well to make firm dough. Roll ½ inch thick on a floured surface and cut in desired shapes. Bake @ 350 for 8-12 minutes. (10 minutes was perfect for us last time. Once they are brown, they are over-done)

Frosting:
Ingredients:
1 cube (8 Tbs) butter
1 ½ lbs powdered sugar
small can of evaporated milk (won't use it all)
1 tsp. vanilla
drop of almond extract (optional)

Directions:
Beat butter until fluffy. Stir in the powdered sugar and pour in evaporated milk until creamy and you achieve your desired consistency. Add vanilla and almond extract.

She always decorated them with a pretty rose, but our family just adds Valentine's Day candy.

Valentine's Candy Cane Suckers

I saw this cute idea for Valentine's Day suckers (click here for step by step instructions) using left over MINI candy canes and thought they were adorable.

 Picture from http://www.pleasant-home.com/2010/01/quick-and-easy-valentines-treats.html

They really are adorable...... sigh....... however, there are a few CRUCIAL things I learned while making them.

#1 USE MINI CANDY CANES- have you ever tried and succeded to peel the wrapper off a normal sized candy cane without breaking it? Didn't think so.

OK, so maybe ONE crucial thing but it is crucial and it could have turned my hour project into a 15 minute project and they would have looked so much cuter. I broke all of the candy canes trying to unwrap them and then it was very difficult to break them off at the correct point.

Not everything I do turns out cute or good, but the idea itself is cute.

Here are my results:

(Note: The one on the left looks a little weird because I baked it for 2 minutes so they would hold better to the stick but it wasn't very helpful and I found out it was useless anyways because the white chocolate holds it all together)

Gathered Heart Pillow

So.... I'm not crafty. Phew, there, I said it. However,there have been a few thing recently that have piqued my interest. I've been browsing www.u-createcrafts.com and there is a whole treasure-trove of fun/creative/crafty things. The gathered heart pillow was so adorable, I had to do it. Here is a link to the tutorial.

My sister and I just went through her extra craft things so we just used what we had on hand. We paid around $2.40 for the stuffing and had everything else. I think it turned out cute; just in time for Valentine's Day!

What do you think?

The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Rolls

My Hubby has a tradition on Christmas Eve that his family makes cinnamon rolls and then eats them for their Christmas Morning breakfast. I decided to try and make them this year. They WOULD HAVE been a total success except for the fact they weren't done all the way through. I either attribute this to the fact I put them in a 9x13 pan when she put hers in pie tins OR I took her own advice and cooked them at 375°F instead of the normal 400°F. BUT Hubby did say they were scrumptious.

Pioneer Woman’s Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

• 1 quart Whole Milk
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• 1 cup Sugar
• 2 packages Active Dry Yeast
• 8 cups (Plus 1 Cup Extra, Separated) All-purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 1 teaspoon (scant) Baking Soda
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Salt
• Plenty Of Melted Butter
• 2 cups Sugar
• Generous Sprinkling Of Cinnamon
• _____
• MAPLE FROSTING:
• 1 bag Powdered Sugar
• 2 teaspoons Maple Flavoring
• ½ cups Milk
• ¼ cups Melted Butter
• ¼ cups Brewed Coffee (I OMITTED)
• ⅛ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Mix the milk, vegetable oil and sugar in a pan. Scald the mixture (heat until just before the boiling point). Turn off heat and leave to cool 45 minutes to 1 hour. When the mixture is lukewarm to warm, but NOT hot, sprinkle in both packages of Active Dry Yeast. Let this sit for a minute. Then add 8 cups of all-purpose flour. Stir mixture together. Cover and let rise for at least an hour.
After rising for at least an hour, add 1 more cup of flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir mixture together. (At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge until you need it – overnight or even a day or two, if necessary. Just keep your eye on it and if it starts to overflow out of the pan, just punch it down).
When ready to prepare rolls: Sprinkle rolling surface generously with flour. Take half the dough and form a rough rectangle. Then roll the dough thin, maintaining a general rectangular shape. Drizzle 1/2 to 1 cup melted butter over the dough. Now sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over the butter followed by a generous sprinkling of cinnamon.
Now, starting at the opposite end, begin rolling the dough in a neat line toward you. Keep the roll relatively tight as you go. Next, pinch the seam of the roll to seal it.
Spread 1 tablespoon of melted butter in a seven inch round foil cake or pie pan. Then begin cutting the rolls approximately ¾ to 1 inch thick and laying them in the buttered pans.
Repeat this process with the other half of the dough. Let the rolls rise for 20 to 30 minutes, then bake at 400 degrees (see note below) until light golden brown, about 15 to 18 minutes.
For the frosting, mix together all ingredients listed and stir well until smooth. It should be thick but pourable. Taste and adjust as needed. Generously drizzle over the warm rolls. Go crazy and don’t skimp on the frosting.
Note: My rolls don’t work for me at 400 degrees anymore. I now bake them at 375 degrees

Here are my results:

Cherry Christmas Jello

This is probably the easiest Jello salad you will ever make. I've kept this recipe for over ten years and absolutely adore it. This recipe is creamy and bursting with cherries. It's perfect for potlucks at Christmas time!

Cherry  Christmas Jello
Ingredients:
1 large (6 oz) box cherry Jello
2 C boiling water
2 cans cherry pie filling

Directions:
Dissolve Jello in water. Add 2 cans cherry pie filling. Chill

Here are the results:

Fantasy Fudge

This fudge was a staple in our home around the holidays. I am somewhat anti-desserts because most of them are too time consuming (and we are trying to be a little healthier). That said, this fudge recipe is super easy and super delicious! It comes from the back of the Kraft Marshmallow Creme jar and I omit the nuts because they are nasty!

Fantasy Fudge
Ingredients:
3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 12-oz. (340 g) package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 7-oz. (198 g) jar Kraft Marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
Combine sugar, margarine and milk in heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan; bring to full rolling bail, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 4 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in chocolate till melted. Add marshmallow creme, nuts & vanilla beat till blended. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Let cool and cut into 1-inch squares.
Here are the results:

Happy Holidays!

Green Bean Casserole I

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it's time to break out some of my traditional Thanksgiving recipes. I think this one is a classic, and if you haven't had it before, shame on your family!

Green Bean Casserole I
Ingredients:
2 (15 ounce) cans cut green beans, drained
3/4 cup milk (I reduced to 1/2)
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 (2.8 ounce) can French fried onions
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
In a medium casserole dish mix together green beans, milk, cream of mushroom soup, and 1/2 of the can of onions.
Bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until heated through and bubbly. Sprinkle remaining onions over the top, and return to the oven for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Here are the results:

Halloween Pretzels

My sister got this cute little Halloween pretzel kit from the store last year and we loved making these cute little edible chocolate pretzels. Here are the cute pictures:

Witch's Finger


Mummies

Pumpkins

Spiders

They came in a little kit found here or you can go to Hancock Fabric and pick one up. They come with the little molds and, paint brushes, and colored chocolates. You do have to buy your own pretzel rods though. You don't have to color them different colors on the same rod,we just thought they looked cooler that way.

Happy Halloween!

Chilling Jack-o’-Lantern Smoothies

I got so many cute Halloween ideas from a recipe group I attended. One of my favorites was this Chilling Jack-o'-Lantern Smoothie. The original recipe was from Bettycrocker.com but we tweaked it a little to make it more simple. Here's the original recipe:

Chilling Jack-o'-Lantern Smoothies
1 tablespoon semisweet chocolate chips
4 plastic cups (8 to 9 oz each)
3 containers (6 oz each) Yoplait® Original 99% Fat Free orange crème or harvest peach yogurt
1/4 cup frozen (thawed) orange juice concentrate
1 can (11 oz) mandarin orange segments, chilled, drained
1 banana, sliced

Directions:
1. In small microwavable bowl, melt chocolate chips on High for 1 minute or until melted. With tip of knife, spread chocolate on inside of each plastic cup to resemble eyes, nose and mouth of jack-o’-lantern. Repeat with 3 more cups. Refrigerate 5 minutes or until chocolate is set.
2. Meanwhile, in blender container, place all remaining ingredients; cover and blend until smooth. Pour into chocolate painted cups.

HERE'S WHAT I DID:
1 Tbs Nutella
1/2 bag frozen peaches
1 C. sugar
milk to desired consistency

Directions:
1.With tip of knife, spread Nutella on inside of each plastic cup to resemble eyes, nose and mouth of jack-o’-lantern.

2.Meanwhile, in blender container, place all remaining ingredients; cover and blend until smooth. Pour into chocolate painted cups.

Here are the results:


ADORABLE AND TASTY!

Pumpkin Dip

Happy October! I would like to start the month with a fantastic recipe for pumpkin dip. I served this at a recipe exchange and everybody loved it!I served this with apples, graham crackers, and nilla wafers!

Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese,
softened
2 cups confectioners' sugar (I only used 1 and 1/2 Cups and thought it was perfect)
1 (15 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon frozen orange juice concentrate

Directions:
1. In a medium bowl, blend cream cheese and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Gradually mix in the pumpkin. Stir in the cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and orange juice until smooth and well blended. Chill until serving.

Here are my results: