Saturday, March 14, 2009Support Tib!

My friend Tiburon is entering a bicycle race to raise money for diabetes research. She is about 50% to her fundraising goal and could use all the support she can get. Please take a moment to click on the picture below of her handsome son Ethan to learn more about her cause and if you can spare it, donate to help her out!

Friday, March 13, 2009The last cream cheese frosting recipe you’ll ever need…

Beat 8 oz. cold cream cheese (not rock solid, but it means you can use it straight out of the refrigerator) with 5 Tbsp. softened butter and 2 tsp. vanilla until combined. Gradually add 2 c. powdered sugar that has been sifted after measuring.

Source: The Joy of Cooking

Friday, March 13, 2009Chocolate Sheet Cake

Photo by Bakerella

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine in a mixing bowl:
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

In a saucepan, melt:
2 sticks butter
Add 4 heaping tablespoons cocoa. Stir together.
Add 1 cup boiling water, allow mixture to boil for 30 seconds, then turn off heat. Pour over flour mixture, and stir lightly to cool.

In measuring cup, pour 1/2 cup buttermilk.
Add:
2 beaten eggs
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla

Stir buttermilk mixture into butter/chocolate mixture.

Pour into sheet cake pan* and bake at 350-degrees for 20 minutes.

*I have also used this recipe to make 2 dozen cupcakes (same baking time).

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Wednesday, March 11, 2009A work-at-home-mum recommendation…

I always try to support work-at-home-mothers as much as I can when I’m looking for a particular item. In this case I was looking for a bag to hold my knitting supplies so I can take them out and about to classes or a coffee shop or whatever. So when I got my Ebates refund recently, I decided to use it to order a bag from a WAHM who came highly recommended from one of my fellow J07 moms - Ann at Bouquet of Stitches.

I have been talking to her on email for a few weeks to decide which fabric I like and a timeline for when it would be ready. Today I got the email I have been waiting for - the one telling me it is ready to mail and containing pictures of my bag! I’m in love! It has so many pockets for needles and books and such. Here it is…

Ann has been a dream to work with - friendly, prompt in her replies to my inquiries, and accommodating when I needed to change one aspect of the bag. I can’t recommend her highly enough if you are ever in need of a craft bag!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009Crash Hot Potatoes

New potatoes (or other small round potatoes)
Olive oil
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Rosemary or other desired herbs (we used thyme)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil
Add in as many potatoes as you wish to make and cook them till they are fork tender.
On a sheet pan, generously drizzle olive oil.
Place tender potatoes on the cookie sheet leaving plenty of room between each potato.
With a potato masher, gently press down each potato until it slightly mashes, rotate the potato masher 90 degrees and mash again.
Brush the tops of each crushed potato generously with more olive oil.
Sprinkle the potatoes with kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and fresh chopped rosemary (or chives or thyme or whatever herb you have available).
Bake in a 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Source: The Pioneer Woman.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009Yarn Whore

I will be the first to admit that I am not a fantastic knitter, but the will is there! I love the idea of it and the finished product, I just struggle in the execution! I have had some basic knitting skills since I was a kid, but I recently took a sock knitting class which I really enjoyed so I am working on my first sock. I was the least experienced person in the class, and let’s face it, I was in way over my head, but the teacher was really nice and had infinite patience for my novice questions and mistakes.

This leads me to my recent obsession - sock yarn. I have become quite the window shopping yarn whore and my street corner is The Loopy Ewe. They are a yarn store dedicated to sock yarn and have the most beautiful colours from a wide range of brands. I read their blog and love their attitude. The seem like a fun bunch of people and have nice frequent buyer incentives. I look forward to being a customer and churning out some colourful socks if I ever get my knitting act beyond the top ribbing!

Monday, March 9, 2009This is what I found when I went to get Josh up from his nap today…

Look what I did Mama!

Survey the devastation. Nothing was spared. It was on the pillowcase, pillow, duvet, soaked through the duvet to the sheet and mattress protector, on Henry Snuggles the monkey, on Blankie, and smeared on the crib rails. Needless to say, there was a lot of bathing and laundry in my future.

What really sucks is that I had a nice dinner planned for tonight but the time it took me to clean this mess up and give baths totally threw my cooking timing off and so dinner had to be postponed till tomorrow.

Sunday, March 8, 2009Meatloaf

Source: J07Moms!

Saturday, March 7, 2009Bread Machine Cinnabon Clone

Dough:
1 cup warm milk (110 degrees F/45 degreesC)
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup margarine, melted
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup white sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

Filling:
1/3 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Frosting:
1 (3 ounce) package cream cheese,
softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Place ingredients in the pan of the bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Select dough cycle; press Start.
After the dough has doubled in size turn it out onto a lightly floured surface, cover and let rest for 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine brown sugar and cinnamon.
Roll dough into a 16×21 inch rectangle. Spread dough with 1/3 cup butter and sprinkle evenly with sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Roll up dough and cut into 12 rolls.
Place rolls in a lightly greased 9×13 inch baking pan.
Cover and let rise until nearly doubled, about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Bake rolls in preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
While rolls are baking, beat together frosting ingredients.
Spread frosting on warm rolls before serving.

Source: allrecipes.com

Tuesday, March 3, 2009There are no words…