Sugar Bean Bakers

{ Reese's Cupcakes }

2012-03-05T09:44:00.004-05:00

I'm a youth leader at church.

Please tell me that you aren't shocked. If you are shocked, I'm probably doing something wrong here ;)

I work with the teenagers, who I adore! I know so many people complain about today's teens, but those bad ones? They are the exception, not the rule. Teenagers are generally quite awesome.

This has been my experience both with my kids at church & the groups I've worked with at the Bean's High School.

And they like me, so there's a bonus!

Anyway, one of our lovely ladies turned 18 yesterday! I let her decide what type of cupcake I would bring to Youth Group last night.

I'd given her some ideas and she was intrigued by mention of Peanut Butter Buttercream.

So, chocolate with PB Buttercream it was.

I've mentioned this before, and you've probably noticed, but I can never leave well enough alone.

At the grocery yesterday, I thought, what if I top them with the teeny tiny mini Reese Cups.

Which led me to, what if I plop a miniature into the batter?

So, I did both.

This was never intended as a blog post since I'd just made the Buckeye Cupcakes, but they were so good, I had to share!

I'm not a huge sweets eater, I think I've said that before too. I like to bake for people I love & I like seeing how happy it makes them, but this cupcake? Yeah, I could totes eat more than one.

Oh, and Snickerdoodles are another exception.

But that's a different story.

Mmmmm... Snickerdoodles.

Since I wasn't going to post this, there is no step by step, <insert sad face>, but it's super simple.

Put your cupcakes in the oven as usual, but after baking 5 mins, pull them out and pop a Reeses Miniature (the gold foil wrapped size, you know, with the foil and paper removed!) into each one. Then continue baking as usual. This way, the Reese's Cup will still sink to the bottom, but it will not harden.

Once cooled, ice with Peanut Butter Buttercream & then pop a Reeses Mini (the tiny size that comes in the bags at the checkout line) on top if desired. You can also sprinkle with chocolate jimmies or add other finishing touches.

Here's what you get:

It's hard to see, but it's in there!

A little shout out to my newly minted 18 year old youth grouper:

Happy Birthday, Tiff! I love you! :)

I'm going to miss her so much when she goes off to college. *tear*

Maybe I should eat another cupcake. You know... for comfort.

Tina

shared at:
Six Sisters' Stuff
Oopsey Daisy

{ Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss! }

2012-03-02T12:12:00.003-05:00

Today you are You,
that is truer than true.
There is no one alive
who is Youer than You.

-Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka, Dr. Seuss

It's an exciting week of birthdays for me.

Yesterday, Ron Weasley, today, Dr. Seuss.

At least Dr. Seuss was a real person, so I'm making progress.

There's probably lots you didn't know about him, so you can read up here.

Like, did you know a lot of his books are filled with imagery from Springfield, Mass, where he grew up?
Did you know he attended Dartmouth College, was editor in chief of the Dartmouth magazine, The Jack O Lantern, until he and his friends got caught drinking (it was prohibition and against school rules). He kept working on the magazine, but under a different name. Can you guess what? Yes! Seuss- his middle name (and his mother's maiden name).

I didn't know any of that either. Until I visited the link above.

Also, the honors he has been given over the years include two Academy awards, two Emmy awards, a Peabody award and the Pulitzer Prize.

Whoa.

He passed away in 1991, but his legacy will live on, in vivid color.

Pin It

Being Dr. Seuss, you can not do dull. You must do BRIGHT and HAPPY.

And so I did.

These cupcakes are made with a white cake mix. You could do yellow, but your colors might be off a bit.

I recommend white.

Mix up as many colors as you like:

If you want SUPER BRIGHT colors, you can use gel coloring. I used regular in these.

Then spoon into your pans. I used a baby spoon to make sure I had enough of each color for every cupcake. If you have leftover, you can always go back and add more. Way easier to add to the cupcake papers rather than remove.

Ask me how I know.

Yes I'm messy.

Yes my pan is stained.

It's how I roll.

After baking, you'll have this!

Pretty tie dye!

I've done these cupcakes for several different occasions, using as many as 7 colors and as few as 3.

Here I used 5. I think it's a nice number.

Then I just whipped up some buttercream that I colored orange, in honor of The Lorax, and topped with lots of different colors of sanding sugar.

Done-ya!

Wanna see the inside? 'kay.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss

Can I call you Ted?
I hope cupcakes make you smile

Or did you want ice cream instead?
I really hope you don't

I haven't any here

I'm afraid that cupcakes

are all you are getting this year.

Impressive, right? I just made that up, right here on the spot.

*bows*

My wording skills are endless.

or not.

Tina

shared at:
Thirty Handmade Days

{ Cocoa for Ron and You! }

2012-03-01T16:18:00.007-05:00

Pin It

I've often professed how much I love Harry Potter.

Love is an understatement. I'm slightly obsessed. Ok, not slightly.

I've made something for both Hermione & Snape's birthdays.

I've made licorice wands, butterbeer & cauldron cakes.

There's been chocolate frogs, and tons of other Honeyduke's treats.

The Bean's 8th birthday was a huge Potter celebration that included House Sorting, Wand Choosing, Potions, Charms, House Cup and more!

Many of things will be repeated this July when I host a birthday party for Harry himself.

He'll be 32 this year. Thought you needed to know.

So today, March 1, is Ron's birthday (he's 32 today as well).
Happy Birthday Ronald Bilius Weasley!

Now Ron, he loves food.

Period.

All food. Tons of food. Food. Food. Food.

I heard Hermione was making him a cake, so I decided just to make him some cocoa.

Cocoa is mentioned several times in the Potter series.

The Harry Potter Lexicon has listed these times:

served at the Burrow (Chamber of Secrets Chapter 4)

and on the Knight Bus (Prisoner of Azkaban 3)

Dumbledore came down in the middle of the night for some cocoa, but found the Petrified Colin Creevey instead (Chambers of Secrets10)

when Ginny Weasley was sent to the hospital wing after her ordeal in the Chamber of Secrets

Dumbledore suggested that she be given a cup of hot chocolate (Chamber of Secrets Chapter 18)

Homemade Cocoa

this is for one LARGE cup or 2 small ones

1 1/2 cups of whole milk*

1 Heaping Tablespoon Unsweeted Cocoa Powder

1/2 Tablespoon chocolate chips (semi sweet)

2 Tablespoons White Sugar**

1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Whipped Cream

*To make richer and creamier, you can sub in some half and half or heavy cream for a bit of the milk.

**note, this is very sweet, you may want to start with 1 Tablespoon of sugar, then add more as you like

In a heavy saucepan, whisk milk over medium heat. Whisk vigorously to make frothy.

Add in all of the other ingredients, except whipped cream, and whisk until smooth. Heat until very hot, but do not bring to a boil.

Pour into mug & top with mounds of whipped cream, chocolate chips, caramel syrup, marshmallows, or whatever you wish.

Oh and leave some for Ron.

This should get his sweet fix in for a while.

If you are feelin' spicy, throw in a dash of cinnamon.

Ron approves.

Tina

{ Chocolate Mint Cupcakes }

2012-02-29T10:00:00.008-05:00

Pin It

I think I've mentioned this in the past, but my husband likes canned icing.

Yeah, right? This baffles me.

The Bean, however, likes homemade icing.

I've done a fine job raising this human being, haven't I?

Go me!

Back to the icing:

Quandry? Nah, normally I frost a sheet cake in 1/2 canned (chocolate) 1/2 homemade (buttercream).

Since it's 1/2 dark & 1/2 light, I always call it a Yin Yang cake.

The Yin Yang symbol (simplistically) means that the 2 sides are interdependent and that one is no better than the other.

This is SO not true here.

Buttercream is clearly superior to canned icing.

Clearly.

Last night, when baking the hubs a cake, however, I decided to do something different.

I poured out enough for a 9" square cake, and then made the rest into cupcakes for the Bean.

The other day, while at the dollar store, I fell victim to little $1 bags of Andes Chocolate Mints.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.... Andes. Chocolatey, minty goodness.

There are 12 Andes in each pack.

I kept wondering what to do with these, you know, besides inhale them.

Should I chop them up and throw them in cookies? Should I put them in brownie batter?

These cupcakes presented the perfect solution.

A Chocolate Mint Glaze.

yes.

This is enough glaze for 12 cupcakes. If you are doing 24, you will need to double this.

Use your favorite chocolate cupcakes.

Chocolate Mint Glaze

12 Andes Mints

1/4 Cup Butter

1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

3-4 Tablespoons HOT Water

Dash of Vanilla

At 15 second intervals, melt the Andes with the butter. Stir after every 15 seconds (only took 1 minute total in my microwave), whisk until glossy. Add powdered sugar and 3 Tablespoons of Water, and again, whisk until glossy. If not thin enough, add the 4th Tablespoon and whisk. Lastly, whisk in the vanilla.

recipe by Tina

Next, dunk your cooled cupcakes into the glaze

As you remove them, turn them slowly to try and get off all excess glaze.

They will be gorgeous and glossy when wet.

I dipped mine a second time as well.

The glaze will dry, and while it won't be as glossy, it will still be quite pretty.

Sweet, fudgey, with a cool minty finish.

That's what I'm talking about.

And delicious.

Let's not forget delicious.

This ain't no canned icing.

I can't believe I just typed that.

I'm so ashamed.

Tina

This post is part of a St. Patty's Day blog carnival!

If you've arrived via 20Something Saver Hi! Yes, you've taken the correct train!

Your next stop is here over to see my friends at Hot Coupon World where they've baked us up some nomalicious Double Chocolate Mint Cookies!

Chocolate & Mint for the win!

No shoving! There's plenty for everyone!

Shared at

It's A Keeper Thursday Linky Party!

2012-02-23T00:00:00.004-05:00

Have you been to It's A Keeper yet?

If not, what are you waiting for? Christina has tons of recipes and tips on her site!
As you may have guessed, she only posts them, if they are, in fact, keepers!
I can't wait to try the 2 Bite Apple Pies & Strawberry Refrigerator Cake!

Every week, Christina hosts It's A Keeper Thursday. This week I'm co-hosting with her!

Be sure to link up your favorite recipes, but before you do, here are just a few little guidelines…

Follow It’s a Keeper and and Sugar Bean Bakers via email, Facebook and/or Twitter.

It's A Keeper Facebook
Sugar Bean Bakers Facebook

Your link should be a food or craft/project related item. Link up as many as you’d like!

Add the It's A Keeper Button to your sidebar or blog post – help spread the word!

Here's the It's a Keeper Button:

Here is mine if you'd like to add it as well:

Happy linking & have a great Thursday!

Tina

{ Buckeye Cupcakes }

2012-02-17T15:38:00.003-05:00

Pin It

I'm from Ohio.

We love all things Buckeye.

However, I always wonder about naming things "Buckeye" on my blog because most people outside Ohio say, "Buck...WHAT?".

A buckeye is a nut.

And yes, it is poisonous.

At some point in time a highly intelligent Ohioan decided, poison or not, that since a Buckeye is brown and tan, it made perfect sense to call all things chocolate and peanut butter "Buckeye".

Yeah, believe me, I'm as confused as you are.

Here's my original post on Buckeyes.

Huh.

Anyway, for this recipe you'll need chocolate cupcakes.

As I've said before, this is a great cake, but you can also use any darn box mix or recipe of your choosing.

It's all about the icing people!

This is actually a combination of 2 icings that I have already posted.

They come together deliciously on this one cupcake!

First, make up some Peanut Butter Buttercream.

Then drizzle with this decadent Chocolate Glaze shown at the bottom of this post.

And... that's it!

Doesn't matter if you call it a Buckeye Cupcake or a Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter Buttercream and Chocolate Glaze.

Wait, Buckeye Cupcake is MUCH easier.

You might wanna stick with that.

Tina

Shared at:
Oopsey Daisy
Six Sisters' Stuff
Skip To My Lou
Somewhat Simple

{ Re-growing Green Onions }

2012-02-16T09:52:00.003-05:00

Pin It

Do you guys ever watch The Next Food Network Star?

I'll admit, I really like this show.

Now, it's no Top Chef, but it's enjoyable.

They not only have to cook to impress, but they have to do filmed segments to see if they have the chops to make it as a TV Host.

And yes, the grand prize is your own show on Food Network.

Not everyone realizes this, but Guy Fieri was actually on the show, and won Season 2.

No, I wasn't watching it then, I didn't start watching til Season 5.

Season 5 gets me to where I am headed in this post, however.

The winner that year was Melissa d'Arabian who now hosts 10 Dollar Dinners.

Melissa once said that you could regrow green onions in water.

WHUT???

Now, this has been 3 seasons ago, but her show came on the TV the other day and it reminded me to try her little tip.

Guess what... it works!

Just plunk the whites with about an inch of green into a jar with water, and within a couple days, they will start to sprout.

Do nothing else but wait.

Oh, and also, change out the water every couple days so it doesn't get nasty and rinse the roots.

If you aren't going to use them right away, clip off the tops so they don't get too long/go bad, and pitch.

No worries, they'll grow back.

SCIENCE IS AMAZING, right?!

They will stop growing as some point. I don't know how long, and yes, I do realize how unhelpful that is! However, you'll get far more onion than you paid for this way!

According to EHow, you can also do this with chives. Check it out here for more info on re-growing your green onions and chives.

Let me know if you give this a try!

*note: this is for re-growing the green part of the onion, not the white.

Tina

{ Valentine’s Round Up }

2012-02-13T10:45:00.005-05:00

Tomorrow!

It’s tomorrow! I’m not excited or anything, no seriously, I’m not. We don’t really “do” Valentine’s Day.

I know it’s a huge day for lots of people though.

In case you’ve missed them, I’m rounding together a bunch of Valentine or Valentine worthy posts!

Here we go!

Pin It

How about classic Peanut Butter Blossoms with a ‘love’ly twist. Use heart chocolates instead of Hershey Kisses.

Valentine Peanut Butter Blossoms

There’s nothing better than Chocolate Chip Cookies- until you fill them with a fluffy cream!

You could even tint the filling pink if you like!

Double Trouble Cookies

You can never go wrong with the classic Red Velvet, here in cookie form!

This is a quick and easy recipe that starts with a cake mix!

Red Velvet Cookies

Need something super quick?

How about these Pretzel Turtles!

3 ingredients and a few minutes is all you need.

Pretzel Turtles

Need something that doesn’t require an oven?

Well, if you’ve got a printer and ink, these next items are for you!

Great for kids AND grownups!

Dew Me A Favor Printable

Crushing On You Printable

I Need to Ask You A Corny Question Printable

Treat Bag Topper Printables

There are many, many more recipes that would work for Valentine’s here on my blog, but these are a few suggestions.

Wishing you hearts, flowers, and chocolates.

Oh, and diamonds. Yeah, diamonds!

Hope you are all spoiled

Tina

{ Pretzel Turtles }

2012-02-12T14:43:00.004-05:00

Pin It

I've seen these around the internets for a long time now, but I'd never gotten around to making them.

Last week, when my friend Lori said she was going to try them, well, I had to try too. Sorry, I'm a bandwaggoner.

It's something I'm working on ;)

But for now, I'm a big ole copycat. Sorry, Lori!

She got hers made before me and said they were "ta die fer".

Ok, I'm paraphrasing in rapper slang. I don't know why I just did that.

Apologies.

She actually said, "they are delicious".

These.Are.Seriously.Easy.

You need 3 things.

Rolos, Pretzels, Pecans.

This takes 5 minute to bake.

The most labor intensive part of the entire thing is unwrapping the Rolos. Yes, that IS annoying. I make the Bean do it. I'm pro Child Labor. You know, when it comes to the hard stuff, like.. unwrapping candy. (oh, and chores, I'm pro chores!)

For the preztels, I really love the little "window pane" pretzels. I don't find these by a big manufactor though. I'm not sure how widely they are available. I buy the store brand from Kroger. The mini twists will work as well. I just like the square, cause, you know, it's hip to be square. (cue Huey Lewis and the News).

Basically, you stack the rolo on the pretzel

Then bake for 5 minutes at 250 degrees F.

Remove and immediately top with a pecan. Push down so it flattens out some.

If you are a nut hater (like me) you can opt to top these with M&Ms instead.

However, pecans have such a mild flavor, I don't mind them here at all.

Then, let cool.

Like I said in the Peanut Butter Blossoms, it will take at least a couple hours for the chocolate to set back up enough that you can store them.

Of course that doesn't mean you can't eat them. You'll just have to lick chocolate off your fingers.

What a crime.

Great for Valentine's Day & Holidays.

Or you know, any of the other days of the year!

Tina

*I wish I knew who came up with idea originally, but I've seen it so often, I wouldn't know who to credit.

I'll just say, well played Turtle Genius, well played.

Shared at
Oopsey Daisy

{ Egg In A Frame & Stories About My Mamma }

2012-02-08T15:35:00.012-05:00

Pin It

Have I told you about my Mamma yet?

I know there are about 100 different ways to spell this word, but this is how we've always spelled it.
There's also Mama, Mamaw, Mammaw, and then the variations like MeMa, MeMaw, MawMaw.
In any case, this post is about my Grandmother. Specifically, my Mom's mother.

She's a dynamo.

In April, she will be 92 years young.

She can work circles around people 1/4 of her age. She loves to wash dishes and do laundry. She REALLY loves to organize.

No grass ever grows under her feet.

She's still very active in the community. If the church doors are open, she's there. Every summer, she works the snack station at our Vacation Bible School. She still a member of the Hospital Auxiliary as well as the American Legion Auxiliary. She goes to Card Parties at the local Grange Halls and American Legion Posts three times a month. She plays Chair Volleyball (and is dang good at it) at the Senior Center each Thursday.

She'd do anything for anyone who needed it.

Need a shirt? Because she'd give you the one off her back.

Everyone loves my Mamma!

When I grow up, I want to be just like her.

As a kid, there was nothing better than going to Mamma's house and spending the night. We'd build puzzles, go on nature walks, play dominos, walk to town (about a mile) and get ice cream, she'd tell me stories, and we'd just have the best time ever.

In the morning, she'd make me my very favorite breakfast. Egg in a Frame. Oh, and coffee. Yes, I was like 8 years old and drinking coffee. Well 1/2 milk, 1/2 coffee, and a whole lotta sugar.

Yes, my Mamma made me lattes long before they were popular here in the USA!

I just love, love, loved Egg in a Frame.

I know this is a simple recipe, and most of you have probably had it, or made it, but eating this always reminds me of sitting on the counter in her teeny, tiny kitchen, sipping my 'coffee', while she fried me up an egg in a frame.

Here's the deal.

For one Egg in a Frame you'll need:

Egg in a Frame

1 slice of bread
1 egg
butter
salt
pepper

Most any bread should work. When I was a kid, it was always white, yum. Now, it’s wheat… Still delicious though!

I've seen a lot of people plop the butter in the in the pan, Mamma did not do this. She buttered the bread on both sides.

Then, she cut a hole in the center

and popped it into a pan. I spray mine with cooking spray first.

Keep your pan no higher than Medium.

Crack the egg into the hole you made in the center. You can break your yolk, if you are the type that likes hard yolk. Me? I’m all about the runny stuff.

Liquid Gold. YUS!

Salt and Pepper to your liking.

Toast on one side until nice and brown, then flip

Cook until the other side is browned and delicious looking.

Oh! It’s not in these photos, but I did toast the little circle. My pan was too small to do it all at once.

BE SURE YOU TOAST THAT CIRCLE. It’s The Circle of Deliciousness!

In the end, what you get is a toasty, buttery, eggy dish.

For me though, I get memories on a plate.

Do you have a food that brings back memories for you?

Share with me!

One last thing, I really think you need to see this. Last Christmas my Mamma was in the play at church. She played a teenager.

Yes, I said a teenager!

Our minister's 20-something daughter put her up to it. She also made this shirt for Mamma.

To which Mamma said to me, “I’m Bieber’s biggest fan! I don’t know who that is, but I think he’s a singer or something!”.

Man, I squishy heart love that lady.

Isn’t she cute!

Tina

Shared at:
Miz Helen's
Gooseberry Patch

{ Gooey Cookies & Red Velvet Cookies }

2012-02-06T18:19:00.018-05:00

Pin It

It’s a twofer post! Two, two, two recipes in one!

I made these for the first time last week. I had 3 teenage boys here, and they all went through the roof for them.

This recipe is based off what I’ve known as Gooey Bars. It tastes just like them, but in cookie form.

I found the recipe here at Food.com and knew I had to try it.

Success?

Here is the conversation that followed the baking of these cookies:

Friend 1: “These are EPIC cookies!”

Friend 2: “I’m in HEAVEN!”

Friend 1: “They are HEAVEN COOKIES!”

Bean: “I just tasted nerdvana!”

(yes, he said NERDvana).

I guess you could say they liked them. I’m just not sure.

These cookies are moist, tender, and rich!

They are also EASY and take only a few ingredients. YUS! Love that.

So, for the Gooey Cookies, you’ll need:

Gooey Cookies

¼ cup butter , softened (no substitutions)

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

4 ounces cream cheese , softened

1 (18 ounce) box yellow cake mix

1 cup powdered sugar

First, beat together, in a large mixing bowl, the cream cheese, egg, vanilla, and butter until light and fluffy.

Then add in the cake mix

until well blended. It will be quite thick. Cover and chill for 30 mins in the refrigerator.

Preheat oven to 350 while the dough is chilling.

After the chilling, form into balls (I made mine a little smaller than the size of a ping pong ball) and roll in powdered sugar.

Bake for 12 minutes. Do not let brown. With about 2 mins left, I lightly pressed a glass on top of them to make them a little flatter.

You don’t need to do this, if you want little fat cookies. It’s all good

Remove to cooling rack.

Yummy in muh tummy!

The Bean professes that these are his new favorite and that I should make them daily.

Sure. That’s gonna happen.

Now.

Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

Yesterday, I don’t know if you’ve heard this or not, but there was a wee little game on the telly called “The Super Bowl”.

We had a party for our youth group (where NONE of us watched the Super Bowl), and I needed some snackage to take.

Well, I made the Pull Apart Pizza Bread, but needed some sweeties.

I thought about it for a while, and finally decided to throw caution to the wind and use the above recipe, but with Red Velvet Cake Mix.

I am probably not the 1st person to try this, but I didn't follow anyone's recipe.
I figured, if it was good with yellow cake, it's gonna be even better with Red Velvet, right?

Now, let me tell you… they were good PLAIN.

And OH SO PRETTY!

(those little choccie hearts are Valentine Junior Mints, by the way, cute, right??)

I can rarely leave well enough alone, however, so I whipped up a batch of Cream Cheese Icing and made…

you guessed it, Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies.

I had 3 people tell me that these were one of the best things I’d ever made… so there ya go.

Apparently, they were acceptable.

Here’s the Cream Cheese Icing Recipe:

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened (not melted!)

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups powdered sugar

Beat together the vanilla, cream cheese, and butter. Add powdered sugar slowly.

Dip spoon into the bowl.

Remove.

Lick.

Moan happily.

The end.

Oh, you can also spoon (or pipe) between two Red Velvet Cookies!

You know, if you have any to spare!

These Red Velvet Cookies would be GORGEOUS for Valentine’s Day and Christmas!

Now, I think chocolate cake mix will fall victim to this recipe next!

Pin It

There you have it, two recipes, one post.

Now that, my friends, is a deal!

Tina

*

shared at:
Oopsey Daisy
Skip To My Lou
Six Sisters' Stuff
The Girl Creative
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Flamingo Toes
I Heart Naptime
Homemaker On A Dime
Everyday Mom's Meals
Somewhat Simple
Something Swanky

kitchen fun with my 3 sons

{ Dew Me A Favor Valentine Printable }

2012-02-04T19:47:00.004-05:00

Ok, so, what can I dew?

This is by far the most popular drink around these parts.

It's sickly sweet, but hey, people like it! I indulge in a glass myself every now and again.

However, this is the first to go whenever we have a party.

When I go out to eat with a group, 90% of the people order the Mt. Dew.

And of course, this is the Bean's favorite drink.

So.. without furter adew (see what I did there?? ha):

Pin It

Just like the Crush labels, cute on a bottle (2-liter or 20 ounce) and look- even cute on a can!

Here's the printable- right click, save as for full resolution:

Dew Be Dew Be Dew...

Tina

Shared at:
504 Main
kitchen fun with my 3 sons
Six Sisters' Stuff

{ Crushing On You, Valentine }

2012-02-03T19:21:00.008-05:00

The Bean loves Orange Crush. Not as much as Mt. Dew, of course, he IS a teenager, but he’s a big ole fan of the Crush.

For some reason, it “tastes better” in the bottles, ie, it costs 3x as much.

Pin It

However, for Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be totally cute, you know, Crush…

Haha.. get it?

So, I whipped up these tags.

They can be used on a single bottle, or the whole 6 pack in the carton.

You could just as easily tie them on a 20 ounce bottle, or a 2 Liter. You could probably even tape them on a can, or a 12 pack of them.

I’ve made these printables in orange for Orange Crush, purple for Grape Crush, and red for Strawberry Crush.

Wouldn’t they be cute tied on your drinks for Valentine’s Day dinner? Or for special Valentine’s Day movie night?

Hope you enjoy them!

Here are the printables. For full resolution, right click>save as

Crush away, my friends, crush away.

Tina

Shared at:
Something Swanky
Ginger Snap Crafts
The Girl Creative
Six Sisters' Stuff
Southern Lovely
kitchen fun with my 3 sons

{ Super Bowl Snacks }

2012-02-02T12:11:00.006-05:00

Pin It

Today I'm rounding up some recipes that I think would make good Super Bowl snacks.

I hear that the big game is this Sunday.

Also, I hear there are two teams playing it in. However, I had to google to find out who they were.

Not a football fan? No, I'm not.

(Oh, google says its the New England Patriots & the New York Giants. I assume that is right. It's google after all, and the google knows).

So, I'm not a footbal fan, BUT, I am a PARTY fan! Woot!

I think we are actually going to go to a Super Bowl party on Sunday.

We were promised board games and commercials. They'd better be there, or I'm demanding my money back. Even though I'm not paying. I will want money back.

I'm totally waffling on what to make myself.

I might do this Buffalo Chicken Dip that my friend Steph made for New Year's Eve.

Or maybe I'll make these whoopie pies shaped like footballs.

Chocolate Whoopie Pies

Another option my Snowflake Crunch Popcorn, but with the teams colors.

Google tells me they both have Red and Blue (and white/silver/whatever). Use the red and blue M&Ms instead of just the blue. Now, I KNOW it's not the perfect blue of the team- but... it'll work. If you are a big fan and HAVE to have the right color, M&Ms does sell the darker blue in specialty stores like Party City, etc.

Snowflake Crunch Popcorn

These Ranch Crackers are sure to be a hit Ranch Snackin' Crackers

Do you want to make friends fast? Then make this Chocolate Chip Cheeseball

If you want a savory cheeseball, try this one that takes minutes to make 1.2.3. Cheeseball!

Need a dip? Okay! Try this one Holy Moses Dip.

A favorite get together snack around here is this Pull Apart Pizza Bread. yum.

You just CANNOT go wrong with a batch of Caramel Corn...

That is, unless you bake it at 200 degrees Celcius , like my long time New Zealand friend Pam. LOL!

Love ya, Pammy!

Maybe you'd like to delve into making some of these Peanut Butter Patties.

They are quick to disappear!

Or, even better, how about these 3 ingredient Oreo Truffles!

There's a few of my suggestions! Are you having/going to a party?
What are you planning to make?

Go Team! I really hope that the ....

oh never mind. I really don't care who wins!

But if you are into football, I hope YOUR team wins!

Have fun :)

Tina

shared at:

Seven Thirty Three
Momnivores Dilemma

{ Ranch Snackin’ Crackers }

2012-01-29T15:21:00.010-05:00

Pin It

On Friday night, I had a Japanese Themed Game Night.

My nieces are huge anime/manga fans and therefore obsessed with all things Japanese.

A Japanese Themed Game Night seemed the right thing to do.

And the tasty way to do it.

(Who remembers those commercials? I seriously just dated myself there.)

My oldest niece, Emily, and I made Beef Sukiyaki and then I made crepes. Crepes, while not Asian, are very popular in Japan.

Or so I’m told.

So, what was the hit of the night?

Crackers.

Yeah, you read that right, they all went nuts over crackers.

Which were not the least bit Japanese and not the least bit hard to make.

Figures, doesn’t it?

There were five teenagers here, and I thought there was going to be a thrown down over the crackers.

True story.

Four girls and the Bean. You know who would have won that fight, right?

Yeah, the girls. Totally the girls.

The Bean has declared that I should make this everyday. Um.. I’ll get right on that.

In the meantime, here’s the recipe for you all:

Ranch Snackin’ Crackers

1 packet of Ranch Dressing Mix

1 bag/box of Oyster Crackers

1/4 Cup of Oil

1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder or garlic salt (depending on your preference)

parmesan cheese (in the shaker)

Preheat oven to 200 degrees F

In a large bowl, mix the oil, garlic, and dressing mix together. Once well blended, add oyster crackers and toss until fully covered.

Place crackers in a single layer in a baking pan.

Bake for 20 mins, stirring every 5.

Remove from oven, and sprinkle with desired amount of parmesan cheese.

Toss again.

Allow to cool & enjoy.

I assume you store leftovers in a tightly sealed container or ziploc bag. I wouldn’t know.

I had no leftovers.

Tina

{ I'm Guest Blogging }

2012-01-28T14:55:00.000-05:00

I'm guest blogging over at Everyday Mom's Meals today!

You've probably seen the recipe here already, but still pop on over, say Hi!

Tell Krista I sent you!

Thanks, Krista, for having me!

Tina

{ Hello Pinners! }

2012-01-26T10:05:00.000-05:00

Hello to everyone who is visiting via my Valentine's Peanut Butter Blossoms on Pinterest!

I hope you'll stick around, I have lots to share here on my blog :)

Find me on Pinterest here: Pinterest

Or "Like" me on Facebook here: Sugar Bean Bakers Facebook Page

About 1/2 way down this page you'll find the subscription email & Google Friend Connect.

Thanks for stopping in & have a sweet day!

Tina

{ Peanut Butter Blossoms the Vday Way }

2012-01-23T17:04:00.012-05:00

So, let me tell you about Peanut Butter Blossom cookies.

For years, I had convinced myself that these were called Peanut Butter Kisses.

Incorrect.

Peanut Butter Kisses are those black and orange wrapped peanut butter taffy that old ladies give on Trick or Treat.

And that no one likes.

I remember getting those on Trick or Treat and thinking, “trick, definitely trick.”

That and boxes of raisins. And pennies.

What was with the pennies?

Pennies.. me no likey.

Snickers? Me likey!

Peanut Butter Kisses? Nay.

Peanut Butter Blossoms? Yay!

So, that is what I’m making today.

You’ve probably all made these a time or two. Or a hundred.

You probably even have your own favorite recipe.

I’m showing you mine though. You, of course, can substitute your own if you wish it.

These are updated for Valentine’s Day. I saw the idea on Pinterest, which I tracked back to this site, eighteen25.

I also found these at by Betty. You know, Betty Crocker.

Sadly, I wasn’t clever enough to come up with this on my own.

Woe is me.

Pin It

Heart shaped chocolates in place of the kisses. Total brill.

Yeppers.

Now, you’ll see residing there in the middle of these puffy peanut butter cookies lies Dove chocolates.

Confession #1: I don’t like Dove chocolate.

GASP!

I know so many people out there, including the Bean, LOVE Dove. Dove is 2nd on the Bean’s list, only after Godiva.

I, however, prefer Hershey’s. True story.

Confession #2: I love Peanut Butter ~~Kiss~~ Blossom Cookies, but I pop the chocolate off and eat it last!

I never eat the chocolate AND the cookie together.

Is that odd? Please reassure me that I’m not the only ~~weirdo~~ person out there that does this!

My unlike of Dove aside, these are SUPER DE DOOPER cute, yes?

No worries, I’ll just pop the chocolate off and feed it to the Bean. I doubt he’ll object.

You can roll these in pretty sanding sugar, if you like:

to get cookies like this:

If you want, you could tint the dough with red gel food coloring.

I didn’t take that route today though. Maybe some day I’ll travel it.

I, personally, think they are prettier nekkid.

So stop yapping and get to the recipe, eh?

Alrighty then, the recipe I use is from Pillsbury.

Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening

1/2 cup peanut butter

2 tablespoons milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

Sugar

48 Hershey's® Kisses® Brand milk chocolates, unwrapped (or in this case, heart shaped chocolates)

Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, combine flour, 1/2 cup sugar, brown sugar, baking soda, salt, shortening, peanut butter, milk, vanilla and egg; mix with electric mixer on low speed until stiff dough forms. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; roll in sugar. Place 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375°F. for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately top each cookie with 1 milk chocolate candy, pressing down firmly so cookie cracks around edge; remove from cookie sheets.

The chocolate will keep its form, but will take at least a couple hours to set back up, so be sure not to touch it.

Remove from oven, then press chocolate candy into cookie. Cracks will form- that's fine, that's what you want; remove from cookie sheets.

I made some of mine larger (you can see one in the photo with the colored sugar), and baked for the larger for 12 minutes. The smaller (normal size) I baked for 10.

The chocolate will keep its form, but will take at least a couple hours to set back up, so be sure not to touch it.

Make some for your sweeties for Valentine’s Day, you know you wanna!

Oh, and be sure to visit eighteen25 and tell them I sent ya, lots of fun ideas there.

Tina

Shared at:
Flamingo Toes
Six Sisters Stuff
Oopsey Daisy

{ Watcha Got? #2 Linky Party }

2012-01-19T12:20:00.004-05:00

Welcome to another Watcha Got Linky Party.

Sorry it's been over a week since the last one, but being new at it, I kinda.. er... forgot.

So, here we go again!

Since my last party, I've been a little busy-

here's what I've been up to:


Double Trouble Cookies


2012 Memory Jar


Free Printable: Treat Bag Toppers


A Birthday Cake for Snape

Free Printable: Valentine Popcorn Wrapper

Here's the 'Watcha Got?' Rules

(I know, I know, I hate rules too)

Feel free to link up a few projects!

Link to your post, not the main URL.

*Follow me on Facebook or here with Google Friend Connect
(or both *winky face*)

*Link back to me, either in your post or grab my button from the sidebar!

*Visit some other links...share the lovin' from the oven.

Or stovetop. Or microwave. Or crafty spot.

Whatevs.

Oh, and leave a comment below telling me what you linked if you could please.

If you aren't a food/craft blogger, I hope you'll enjoy an array of ideas!

Please help spread the word about my linky party! :)

Tina

{ Double Trouble Cookies }

2012-01-15T18:00:00.013-05:00

Pin It

Chocolate Chip cookies are good.

Cream filling is good.

So, do you know what is great?

Yes, you are right- looking at Ian Somerhalder is great but that’s not quite what I meant.

Chocolate Chip Cream Filled Sammich Cookies.

Greatness on a plate-ness.

This is a combination of 2 recipes I’ve posted in the past.

Those being:

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie and the Amish Cream Filling I used in my Red Velvet Whoopie Pie recipe.

Start with the cream filling first, that way while you are working on your cookies, it will have time to cool and you can move on to finish it while the cookies are baking.

I make these cookies a bit smaller than the recipe linked above. I use a medium sized cookie scoop- about a Tablespoon, then I roll them in my hands to make them bake up nice and smooth. Bake for about 10-13 minutes.

One recipe of cookies in this size makes about 18 cookie sammies.

You won’t need the entire cream filling recipe for that, so your choices are

A. Make 2 batches of cookies

B. 1/2 the Cream Filling.

Pick A! Pick A!

Pin It

By the way, while making these, this conversation occurred:

Bean: “Mom, these cookies are DELICIOUS, what is your secret ingredient??”

(This is where normal people say ‘my secret ingredient is LOVE’)

Me: “Oh, I always bake with Awesome.”

Bean: “Let me see your jar of Awesome!”

Me: “Um, yeah, no. You aren’t touching my jar of Awesome.”

Bean: “Why not?”

Me: “Because you’d use it all up trying to be awesome. Duh.”

Yeah, these types conversations actually happen in my house.

Regularly.

But anyway- to the stuff…

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 325. Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.

In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended.

Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk

Mix in the dry ingredients until just blended.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Drop by Tablespoons, then roll to make them bake up smoothly.

(if I were making these regularly, not with the filling, I make them much larger- as noted in the original recipe, I don’t roll those either)

Bake for 10-13 (15 minutes if making the larger cookie) minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly browned.

Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

Recipe originally found at AllRecipes

Amish Cream Filling

3 teaspoons flour

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Crisco

1 Cup White Sugar

1 Tablespoon vanilla

1/4 Cup (1/2 stick) Butter

2 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar

Mix flour and milk in a heavy pan. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. It will thicken as you stir.

Cool completely, you can sit the pan in an ice water bath to cool faster.

Cream together Crisco, butter, sugar and vanilla. Then add cooled milk mixture. Add powdered sugar. This will be thick when done. Your spoon will stand in it, and it will not drip off.

Remember this will be about double what you’ll need for the filled cookies.

This is edited from a recipe I found online, I cannot remember the original source

Pin It

So, there you have it. Double Trouble Cookies.

They are great.

Know what would be super great?

Eating these cookies WHILE looking at Ian Somerhalder.

Yup.

Tina

shared at:
Flamingo Toes
I heart Naptime
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Skip To My Lou
Six Sister's Stuff
CraftOManiac
The Girl Creative
Everyday Mom's Meals
Sarah's Deals
Oopsey Daisy

{ Free Printable: I Need to Ask A Corny Question }

2012-01-13T16:02:00.006-05:00

I kinda like popcorn.

You’ve probably noticed that from my Caramel Corn, Cinnamon Butter Popcorn, and Snowflake Crunch Popcorn posts.

Popcorn? It’s good stuff.

Who doesn’t like it? No one, right?

It’s good salty, it’s good sweet, it’s good at the movies, it’s good at the holidays.

Popcorn. Noms.

I made up a little Valentine’s printable to wrap around a popcorn bag.

This is for your standard size bag, not snack size.

These would be really cute for family and friends, or, for class valentines.

You can get a big darn box of popcorn at Sams for like $8.

So, here they are:

Pin It

You’ll need these items:

Printer

Copy Paper

(you’ll want to use regular paper with these, not cardstock)

scissors or paper cutter

tape

and…

bags of popcorn

I know you clever people don’t need a step by step of this, but.. I took the photos.

So humor me, please.

Print out the design.

Cut paper just inside the black lines.

Center popcorn, then fold the bottom 1/2 and tape once

Fold the top down, and tape again.

Donezo!

Print these up for your kids or your sweetie & for a Valentine’s Movie Night.

Here’s the design. Right Click>Save as for the full resolution design.

When printed this will use an entire sheet of paper per package of popcorn.

There ya go!

Hope this makes your Valentine’s Day POP with fun.

Yeah, I AM that CORNY.

Tina

Shared at:
Six Sister's Stuff
WhipperBerry
Fingerprints on the Fridge
{ Thirty Days }
Somewhat Simple
Skip To My Lou

{ FREE: Treat Bag Topper Printables }

2012-01-11T18:57:00.005-05:00

I made these guys today.

They fit standard lunch baggies, because fancy lil treat bags are too expensive for my taste.

I used regular sized baggies, but I think they’ll fit snack baggies. They are the same width, just shorter, yes?

You can staple them right at the top, or fold over part of the bag and then staple.

The princess one is stapled right at the top. The space baggie I folded over.

This is a standard page size, 8.5x11.

You’ll need to print these on cardstock. You can use photo paper as well, but it’s much more spendy, so I don’t know why you’d want to do that.

Unless you are trapped in your house with a rabid bear outside your door.

I’m not sure why you’d be worried with making treat bags though.

May you’d toss it to the bear?

This seems totally plausible.

Oh, you want to see them? Sorry. I get distracted by…..

Wait, what was I saying?

Pin It

All graphics on these are created by me. There are for personal use only.

I hope that you enjoy them. If you do, please leave some feedback and I’ll do more.

To download, Right Click>Save As & save to your computer.

Cut just inside the dotted lines, fold on the middle line, and staple onto your filled baggie!

Check out my other printables:

Christmas Treat Tags

Snowflake Crunch Popcorn & Tags

Have fun

I’d love to see your finished bags! Share them on my Facebook page.

Tina

Shared on:
Oopsey Daisy

{ Happy Birthday, Severus Snape! }

2012-01-10T19:09:00.001-05:00

If you’ve been around here very long, you’ve probably figured out that I’m a bit of a Harry Potter ~~crazed lunatic~~ fan.

Need a recipe for Cauldron Cakes & Butterbeer? Yeah, I’ve got it.

How about Pumpkin Juice? Ditto.

Well,yesterday (Jan 9) happened to be Severus Snape’s birthday. Since I baked for Hermione’s birthday, I figured I need to make something for Snapey as well.

The mystery throughout he book (and if you ever intend to read/see the books/movies- uh, read the books, just sayin- and you don’t want spoiled, stop reading this post here) was this… is he good, or evil?

I always believed he was good. But MAN, was he GOOD at being BAD.

Harry was convinced Snape was evil, Voldemort’s minion, that he murdered Dumbledore (well, kinda), and that he was trying to kill Harry himself.

Well, Voldy was convinced Snape was his minion too, so that all worked out.

Well, til the end.

Bad Voldemort. BAD.

Snape..nooooo…

Was he dark and evil or good? Did he wear the black hat or the white hat?

He wore both.

So, I made him this cake.

Dark and light. More light than dark though, because Snape was, in Harry’s word’s “The bravest man I ever knew”.

I know this is not the most beautiful cake, it’s all loppysided. I think the Weasley twins were mucking about in my kitchen.

Nothing seemed to go right today.

It doesn’t look TOO bad though. And I’m pretty sure Snape would eat it, I doubt the boy ever had a birthday party after all.

This cake is made the same way as my Rainbow Cake. Same steps, just two colors instead of several.

I made this in 3 thin layers, so I only baked it for about 15-17 minutes. It probably would have looked better in just 2 layers though.

You could do a 4 layer if you used 2 recipes/boxes. I used 1 box of white cake mix, scooped 1/2 out, and added about 4 tablespoons of cocoa powder to one bowl.

If you want the 4 layer, use a box of white and a box of dark chocolate.

Then layer in pans, like in the Rainbow Cake. Bake according to directions (unless you do 3 layers like I did, then refer to above and watch closely!), cool, and ice!

So, there you have it. Mostly light with a bit of darkness… that’s Snape to me.

Happy Birthday, Sev.

I hope it was Snapetastic!

Always, Tina

*a note if you are using box mix, try Duncan Hines, it’s thinner. While I LOVE LOVE LOVE Pillsbury for scooping cupcakes, it’s a bit too thick for this project

(same goes for the Rainbow Cake).

{ 2012 Memory Jar }

2012-01-06T22:46:00.003-05:00

I bought this yesterday and wanted to show you all.

Pin It

It's a memory jar for the year.

Basically, it's a $4 cookie jar from the Mart of the Wal with sticker letters applied.

Throughout the year, you drop 'memories' in it.

Like movie stubs, report cards, birthday party favors, receipts from special purchases, children's artwork, photos, letters, souvenirs from trips, cards... whatever!

Then on Dec 31 you open it up and go back through your memories for the year.

Such a clever idea, right? All your memories from the year stored in one location.

I wish it was my idea, but it's not... I found it on Pinterest (if you don't already, follow me here ).

The idea is from Kelli Crowe. You can see her original post right here.

I plan to get a photo on mine, but haven't yet.

This would be a great idea for a bridal shower/wedding gift. The newlyweds could drop memories from their first year together in it and save. Equally great idea for a baby shower gift. Baby's first year... awww....For family far away- drop your memories in, then pack up and mail to them (you can get shatterproof jars as well, or a tin, etc) at Christmas- or for New Year's Eve- and they will be able to 'share' your year with you.

First year of college would be good too. The possibilities are endless.

What can you come up with?

Tina :)

Shared at:
Oopsey Daisy

{ Watcha Got? Linky Party }

2012-01-06T09:39:00.003-05:00

Welcome to my very first linky party!

I've never done this before (if you couldn't tell from the prior statement), so I hope I'm doing this right!

ACK, pressure!!!!!!!!

Here's the 'Watcha Got?' Rules

(I know, I know, I hate rules too)

Link to your post, not the main URL.

*Follow me on Facebook or here with Google Friend Connect
(or both *winky face*)

*Link back to me, either in your post or grab my button from the sidebar!

*Visit some other links...share the lovin' from the oven.

Or stovetop. Or microwave. Or crafty spot.

Whatevs.

Oh, and leave a comment below telling me what you linked if you could please.

If you aren't a food/craft blogger, I hope you'll enjoy an array of ideas!

Please help spread the word about my linky party if you can :)

Tina