A Crafty Cook

Pao de Queijo - Brazilian Cheesy Rolls

2013-05-21T12:24:00.001-07:00

Did you miss me since I didn't get my post up yesterday? Life is busy. Baby girl has been super needy this past week. She must have been going through a growth spurt or something because she'd only sleep about 4-5 hours a night between feedings. 4 or 5 hours certainly isn't bad for a 5 month old, but she can sleep 7-8 hour stretches. Luckily, last night she slept from around 8:30pm to 6:45am, so I think the growth spurt is over and we're getting back to normal again. Whew! I've also got a couple of big things going on. I started the C25K training plan a couple months back. I'm almost done and I have my first 5K in about 3 years coming up in a few weeks. I also decided to try my hand a direct sales and became a independent distributor for Premier Designs, and even though I haven't started doing home shows yet it is keeping me busy. So, we'll keep this post simple.

I'm sharing this recipe I found over at Our Best Bites for Brazilian Cheese Rolls. I really have no ties to Brazil other than knowing people who have been there. My husband went to Brazil for a few weeks once. I have a cousin who served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint in Brazil and a sister-in-law who also served a mission in Brazil. My only real experience with Brazilian food is The Rodizio Grill. My hubby and I have also started cooking feijoada. I'm sure it's not traditional, but it is a good way to use up leftover spiral ham. Anyway, these little cheese rolls make the perfect little side dish to some feijoada.

Pao de Queijo

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions- You should be able to find it in the Bob's Red Mill Section of your grocery store.
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth. Add cheeses and pulse 2 times. Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less. If desired (and I recommend), sprinkle a bit of Parmesan cheese on top and/or a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan. Serve warm. These don’t re-heat well at all so eat them all while they are nice and fresh.

Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill the wells about half full and get the full 24.

Strawberry Shortcake Ebelskivers

2013-05-14T08:09:00.000-07:00

We've actually been getting a lot of use out of the ebelskiver pan we received for Christmas. They may be a little bit more work to make than regular pancakes but the work is definitely worth it. They are so light and fluffy. This recipe doesn't actually stuff the ebelskivers. It would be a good recipe to try if you have never made ebelskivers before, since they are a little easier to flip with out any stuffing.

Strawberry Shortcake Ebelskivers

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs separated
1 cup whole milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
Strawberries
Sugar
Whipped Cream

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks, then whisk in the milk, melted butter and vanilla extract. Add the yolk mixture to the flour mixture and, using a wooden spoon,stir until well blended. The batter will be lumpy.
In a clean bowl, using and electric mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until stiff, but not dry, peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, fold about one-third of the egg whites into the batter to lighten it, then fold in the rest just until no white streaks remain. Use the batter right away

Brush the wells of the Ebelskiver pan with melted butter and place over medium heat. When butter starts to bubble, add about 2 tablespoons batter into each well. Cook until the bottoms of the pancakes are lightly browned and crisp 3-5 minutes. Use 2 wooden skewers or chopsticks to turn all the pancakes and cook until lightly browned on the second side, about 3 minutes longer.Transfer the finished pancakes to an oven safe dish and keep warm in an oven preheated to 200F. Sprinkle the warm pancakes with powdered sugar.

Chop strawberries and mix with a little bit of sugar. Top ebelskivers with strawberries and whipped cream.Yield: about 21 pancakes.

Coconut Key Lime Pie with Toasted Coconut Crust

2013-05-09T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing Sheryl at Lady Behind the Curtain sends out emails reminding us about the dessert challenge about a week before we are supposed to post our desserts, because I almost forgot. This month the challenge was to use coconut and lime. My mind automatically went to Key Lime Pie. I fully expect to see at least one other key lime pie linked up in this dessert challenge link party. To be honest I know it's not exactly a novel idea, but I have a great love of key lime pie that started with high school marching band. You see, our band always worked the beverage stands at the Taste of Colorado for our big fundraiser. Near our beverage stand was a stand for a Cajun restaurant. They had the most amazing key lime pie. Anyway, since I nearly forgot about the challenge I needed to find a recipe to use ingredients I had on had. Luckily, I happened to have sweetened coconut hiding in my cupboard. Also very lucky, key lime pie uses some very basic ingredients. However, key lime pie doesn't generally used coconut, so I thought I could find a recipe that incorporated coconut milk. As luck would have it Martha Stewart had a recipe for a coconut key lime pie that popped up very near the top of my Google search results. This recipe uses coconut milk. Perfect! During my Google search I came across the idea of using toasted coconut in the graham cracker crust.

Coconut Key Lime Pie with Toasted Coconut Crust

adapted from Martha Stewart

3/4 cup sweetened coconut flakes, divided
2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 butter, melted
1 13.5 oz can coconut milk
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
7 egg yolks
1/3 key lime juice

Spread coconut on a cookie sheet and bake at 325F for 5-6 minutes, or until golden brown.

To make crust: mix together 1/2 cup toasted coconut, graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar and melted butter. Take 1/3 cup of graham cracker and mix remaining 1/4 cup toasted coconut and set to the side to use as a topping on the finished pie. Press the remaining graham cracker mixture up the sides and the bottom of a pie plate.

To make pie filling: Whisk together coconut milk, sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice until smooth. Pour filling over pie crust. Bake at 325F for 45-55 minutes until pie is set, but slightly wobbly in the center. Cool on wire rack for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours. If desired top with whipped cream and reserved graham cracker and toasted coconut mixture.

Notes: I didn't have 7 eggs I only had 5 eggs so I used 2 whole eggs and 3 egg yolks. I also didn't have enough graham crackers to make 2 cups of crumbs so I add 1/2 cup Honey Nut Cheerios crumbs.

Peanut Butter Banana Oat Cookies

2013-05-06T09:29:00.002-07:00

A while back I posted a recipe for Healthy Oatmeal Banana Cookies. I keep seeing the idea all over pinterest and fitness forums. However there is always a difference. Nobody puts apple sauce in there cookies. I decided I would try that since I usually have bananas but don't normally have apple sauce on hand. I have to say that I'm happy with the results and think I like the texture better without the apple sauce. I've also decided this is the best way to use up my bananas when the are about to go bad. This little recipe is perfect. One banana yields about 6 - 7 cookies, so they are super guilt free in my opinion anyway. The have healthy ingredients and if I eat all of them it's only 6 cookies, not 2 dozen. However the recipe is super easy to double or triple, depending on how many bananas you need to

Peanut Butter Banana Oat Cookies

1 banana
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
3/4 cup oats
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (or any other mix ins you desire)

Mash together banana and lemon juice. Add oats and peanut butter to bananas and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop spoonfuls of dough on to a cookie sheet. Flatten each spoonful into a cookie shape. (These cookies don't spread so they will bake into whatever shape you leave them) Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown.

Stash-Buster Challenge - Cabbage Patch Doll Hat

2013-04-29T09:18:00.002-07:00

I didn't get a lot of crochet finished this month. I happy to say That I've made quite a bit of progress on baby girls blanket. After using up another 12 ounces I'm almost done with the base of the blanket, then all I'll have left will be to make a few more appliques and sew them on, but it's still not finished. I also had another sale for a turtle prop that I had to make, but I had to but more yarn for that one so that wasn't a stash-busting project.

So the only stash-busting project I finished was a cabbage patch doll hat for baby girl's 4 month pictures. I can't take credit for the idea. I saw it on pinterest, but I can't link pack to the original, because when I clicked on the image pinterest came up with a message that said something along the lines the link had been deleted, because users reported the image directing them to a shady website. iused 39g (1.3 ounces) of yarn to make this hat.

What's next for May? Well, my main focus is that blanket. I really need to finish it. I also have plans to make another hat for baby girl's 5 months and maybe some mits for her to because she likes to scratch her self and those little store bought ones are just a little too small for her hands now.

Lanas De Ana

Linda's Crafty Corner

Bloglovin'

2013-04-23T16:20:00.001-07:00

I've been messing with bloglovin' a bit more recently. I already added it to my blog when GFC disappeared and I really loved it. However, most of the blogs I followed through bloglovin' I also followed with my blogger dashboard and many of the blogs I followed on dashboard weren't connected to bloglovin', so I kind of quit using bloglovin'. Well, I've heard that google reader is going to be disappearing and have been hearing more reminders about bloglovin'. I got on bloglovin' last night and discovered under the settings that you can import your entire dashbord/google reader list over to bloglovin'. It'll be nice to have all of the blogs I follow in once place and with bloglovin' I can categorize them and organize them. Anyway I mostly made this post because bloglovin wanted me to add some code so I could claim my blog since it's listed several times on bloglovin, but I might as well remind you that you can follow my blog with bloglovin' too.

Thai Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

2013-04-22T12:54:00.004-07:00

We have a problem using up lettuce in our house. We usually buy it, use a few leaves, and then forget about it until it goes bad and needs thrown in the garbage. As we were planning out our last shopping trip we decided we wanted to get the stuff to make BLTs. I knew that meant we were going to buy lettuce so I decided I should plan another meal to use up some of that lettuce instead of throwing it away. Thai lettuce wraps came to mind, so I searched pinterest for some recipes. I wanted to find a recipe that was simple and used fairly basic ingredients. This recipe was my inspiration for the filling and this recipe was the inspiration for the sauce. Of course, I made a few changes. I added a few extra ingredients to add a little bit more flavor. I will definitely be making these again. The filling was great and didn't necessarily need the sauce, but the sauce added some great flavor too.

Thai Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce

Lettuce Leaves (I used romaine)
Peanuts

Filling:

2 chicken breast, cut in to half inch cubes
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 carrot, grated
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1 tsp Sriracha sauce (optional)

Heat oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook onions until tender, add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and cook until chicken is cooked through as sauce is reduced.

Sauce:

1/2 cup chicken broth
2 green onions, diced
1/4 cup peanut butter
4 teaspoons hoisen sauce (you could also use soy sauce, but hoisen sauce has a sweeter flavor)
1 clove garlic minced or pressed
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons lime juice

In a small sauce pan, mix together all ingredients until smooth and warm over medium-low heat.

Fill lettuce leaves with filling and sauce. Garnish with peanuts, if desired.

Crustless Quiche

2013-04-15T15:02:00.001-07:00

Hubby brought some great stuff with him into our marriage. He had a nice set of China that belonged to his Grandma and real silverware and other silver serving pieces. He brought his handy computer skills. You can seriously save a lot of money when you only have to replace a piece of a laptop instead of the whole thing. He is also handy when it comes to yard work, which I am pretty much worthless when to come to working in our yard. I grew up in a town house and a landscaping company took care of all of that stuff. Hubby on the other hand, his parent's own a large piece of property and landscaped the whole thing themselves. Hubby also brought a bunch of his mom's great recipes with him into our marriage. This would be one of those recipes. I had never heard of including baking mix into the eggs to help them set a little stiffer and eliminating the need for a crust. Don't get me wrong. I love a nice flaky crust on my quiche, but sometimes you just need quick and throwing Bisquick in the mix is easier and faster than rolling out a homemade pie crust. Anyway, the great thing about quiche is you can pretty much throw whatever you want in it: ham, bacon, onions, spinach.

Crustless Quiche

3 Large Eggs
1 1/2 cups Milk
1/2 bisquick mix
Salt Pepper to taste
1 Cup Shredded Cheese
Your Choice of quiche filling: Ham, bacon (precooked), mushrooms, olives, onions, spinach, etc.

Place filling in bottom of a greased pie plate or baking dish. Layer cheese over fillings. Mix together eggs, milk, bisquick mix, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over cheese. Bake 35-40 minutes at 325F.

Turtle Popcorn Chex Mix

2013-04-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the year I signed up to join in on Lady Behind the Curtain's Dessert Challenge. I didn't have a chance to participate in the challenges for February or March. This month the ingredients were Pretzels and Caramel. I knew it was something for which I could easily find a recipe. Well, the deadline was approaching and I remembered I still hadn't made anything. I needed to think of something I could easily make with ingredients on hand. The idea that popped into my head was some sort of chex mix. I got inspiration for several recipes of off Chex.com. There were recipes with popcorn and caramel. I decided if I threw in some chocolate and the salty pretzels I would have the perfect sweet treat. I had some pecans on hand so the idea of Turtle Popcorn Chex Mix was born. Yep, this stuff was pretty tasty. It was something snacky, but still sweet. I think it would be a fabulous dessert idea for a game night or something like that.

Turtle Popcorn Chex Mix

3 cups popped popcorn
4 Cups Rice of Corn Chex cereal (we actually used Crispix)
1 cup Pretzels
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup chocolate Chips

Mix together popcorn, cereal, pretzels, and pecans. Divide cereal mixture in half. Combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Cook in microwave for 2 minutes, stopping after the first minute to stir. Pour over half of cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated. Melt chocolates until chocolate stirs smooth. Pour melted chocolate of remaining half of cereal mixture and stir until evenly coated. Combine caramel and chocolate cereal mixtures together.

Carrot Cake Cheesecake

2013-04-08T09:39:00.001-07:00

I wasn't sure what I was going to make for dessert on Easter, until I got on Pinterest. I came across the idea of carrot cake cheesecake. The idea I original saw was basically a double layer carrot cake with a cheesecake layered in the middle and covered in cream cheese frosting. I thought that was a little overboard. 3 layers of cake/cheesecake? The frosting seemed a little unnecessary too with all that cream cheese in the cheesecake. I figured I would just put a layer of cake batter in my spring form pan and pour a layer of cheesecake batter over top and bake it like that. Well, when I make the brown bottom cheesecake I have to bake the brownie a little bit before adding the cheesecake batter. I wasn't sure if I should bake the carrot cake batter some before adding the cheesecake batter. While I was doing research on the internet I cake across a copycat recipe for Cheesecake Factory Carrot Cake Cheesecake. In this version the carrot cake and cheesecake batters were marbled. I thought that was fabulous idea so I ended up trying that. So, this cake did not bake flat at all! It was ugly so I ended up adding some cream cheese frosting to the top to make it look flat and a lot prettier. Boy was this cheesecake delicious!

Carrot Cake Cheesecake
Carrot Cake batter

3/4 cup oil
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups grated carrot
1/2 cup chopped pecans

In a large bowl Cream oil and sugar. Add eggs. In a second bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add to wet ingredients. Stir in carrots and nuts.

Cheesecake Batter

3 8-ounce packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup white chocolate, melted

In a large mixing bowl beat cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar, flour, and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until combined. Add whole eggs and egg yolk all at once, beating on low speed just until combined (do not over beat). Stir in milk and melted white chocolate

Spread 1/2 of carrot cake batter over bottom of greased 9" or 9 1/2" spring form pan. Drop cheesecake batter over carrot cake batter by spoonfuls; top with spoonfuls of remaining carrot cake batter. Top with spoonfuls of remaining cheesecake batter, spreading evenly with a knife. Bake at 375F for 50-60 minutes or until center appears nearly set when shaken gently. Remove from oven and let cool on wire rack for 60 minutes. Spread icing on the top of the cheesecake and let chill in the fridge at least 8 hours.

Icing

2 oz cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups powdered sugar
Milk (if needed)

Mix together cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and powdered sugar. If mixture is too thick add a little bit of milk.

Stash-Buster Challenge - Easter Hats

2013-04-02T14:00:00.000-07:00

We'll these hats should probably technically count as a March project since that's when I made them, but since they did't where the hats for me too take pictures until Easter I wasn't going to get to post pictures until April.

Click her for Pattern

As for the rest of April I don't really have big plans for crocheting. I know I need to work on Baby girl's blanket. I'll probably make some sort of prop for her 4 month pictures too. Other than that....I'm sure something will come up.

Peaches and Cream Torte

2013-04-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

I had to make a pie for Pi day. Seriously, I'll take any excuse to have dessert. I had previously been looking through my cookbooks for a dessert to make when we had some friends come over for dinner. I spotted this Peaches and Cream Torte in a Taste of Home cook book. Well, it needs a lot of time in the fridge and it wasn't going to have the required chill time so I ditched that idea and made something else instead. Well, when Pi day came around my mind came back to that Peaches and Cream Torte, so I made it. I made it in a spring form pan since that's what the recipe called for. You definitely cannot make this in a pie plate. There is way too much filling, but if you need a substitute for a spring form pan you could easily use a 9 x 13 inch pan. In hindsight, I actually think that would be a little more ideal than the spring form pan. Once I released the side of the spring form pan and removed it I was a little puzzled as to how I was going to store the leftover torte. It's not the firmest dessert. I ended up putting the side of the spring form back on to put the leftovers back in the fridge. Now, if I did use the 9 x 13 inch pan, I would only do one layer of the cream mixture and the peach mixture as opposed to two layers. This dessert was fantastic. It was cool, creamy, and light. It would be perfect for a summer BBQ or potluck (especially with the 9" x 13" pan) ... And yes, I forgot to reserve some graham cracker crumbs for the top of mine *sigh.*

Peaches and Cream Torte

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 can (29 ounces) sliced peaches
1-1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
2 cups heavy whipping cream

In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and brown sugar; stir in butter. Set aside 1/4 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. spring form pan.Place pan on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Drain peaches, reserving syrup in a 2-cup measuring cup. Add enough water to measure 1-1/2 cups. In a large saucepan, combine 1/4 cup sugar and cornstarch; stir in syrup mixture until smooth. Add peaches. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.Meanwhile, in a large bowl, beat cream cheese and remaining sugar until smooth. In a small bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form; fold into cream cheese mixture.Spread half of the cream cheese mixture over crust. Top with half of the peach mixture; repeat layers. Sprinkle with reserved crumb mixture. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight. Remove sides of pan before slicing. Yield: 12 servings.

Stash-Buster Challenge - Bunny Hat

2013-03-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

When I mentioned my plan for stash-busting for March I mentioned that I would inevitable have some unexpected projects pop up. This would be one of those projects. Although, it wasn't entirely unexpected. Baby girl is 3 months old, so I needed to get some adorable 3 month pictures. In knew I would want to crochet some sort of photo prop, I just didn't know what it would be. With her 3 month birthday being so close to Easter I decided to get into the spirit of things and make her a bunny hat for her pictures. I've decided to share my pattern with you. As always, I really have no idea what I am doing when it comes to writing down patterns so I hope it makes a little bit of sense when you try it out. If only you could see what was going on in my mind, then I'd know you could understand it for sure.

I used about 1.6 oz (45g) or yarn for this project.

Crochet Bunny Hat
Supplies:

H hook

worsted weigh yarn in white and in pink,

White Pipe Cleaners
Special stitches:
HDC2tog: Yarn over, insert hook in next stitch, yarn over and pull up loop] 2 times, yarn over and draw through all loops on hook— 1 stitch decreased.

Instructions:

Hat:Work in rounds. DO NOT TURN.

Round 1 Chain 3. In 3rd chain from hook work 8HDC OR make a magic ring and work 8HDC in ring and pull tight
Round 2 2 HDC in each HDC 16 stitches
Round 3 [1 HDC in next stitch, 2 HDC in next stitch] around, 24 stitches.
Round 4 [1 HDC in next 2 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch] around, 32 stitches
Round 5 [1 HDC in next 3 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch] around, 40 stitches
Round 6 [1 HDC in next 4 stitches, 2 HDC in next stitch] around, 48 stitches

Rounds 7 and up HDC in HDC until hat is desired length. Then to finish off sc in next 2 hdc and slip stitch in next sc. Fasten off.
Ears:
make 4 (2 white and 2 pink)
Row 1: make 3 foundation half double crochets OR chain 4 HDC in second chain from hook and next 2 chains. Chain 2, turn.
Row 2: HDC in each stitch, chain 2, turn.
Row 3: HDC in first stitch, 2HDC in next stitch, hdc in last stitch, chain 2, turn.:
Row 4: HDC in each stitch
Row 5: HDC in first stitch, 2HDC in next stitch, HDC in next 2 stitches, chain 2, turn
Rows 6-7: HDC in each stitch, chain 2, turn
Row 8: HDC in first 2 stitches, 2HDC in next stitch, HDC in next 2 stitches, chain 2, turn
Rows 9-11: HDC in each stitch, chain 2, turn
Row 12: Work one HDC2tog in first 2 stitches. HDC in next 2 stitches. Work one HDC2tog in last 2 stitches, chain 2, turn
Row 13: Work one HDC2tog in first 2 stitches. Work one HDC2tog in last 2 stitches chain 2, turn
Row 14: Work one HDC2tog in next 2 stitches. Fasten off.

Take one white ear piece and one pink ear piece and fasten layers together by SC evenly along the edges (work 3 SC in point of ear pieces and in bottom corners of ear pieces). To make the ears stiff work the SCs around the white pipe cleaners. Sew ears onto hat.

Lanas De Ana

Linda's Crafty Corner

Easy Fudge Brownies

2013-03-25T07:00:00.000-07:00

My sister-in-law recently hosted a Pampered Chef party and I was super excited. I was able to get something I've wanted for a long time: a toaster oven sized baking stone bar pan. I was completely devastated when it came in the mail and it was broken and I had to wait another for a second one to come in the mail. Anyway, there was a little recipe for brownies that came in the box with the baking stone. Well, we all know I love brownies. This recipe was perfect for 2 reasons. First, it was a smaller sized batch, just big enough for my 7 1/4" x 9 1/2" baking stone (an 8" x 8" is just about the same size), so I wouldn't end up eating a whole 9" x 13" inch batch of brownies. Second, it gave me a chance to use my new pan, although I baked them in my oven, not my toaster oven. These brownies were supper yummy. They reminded me of the Little Debbie Fudge Brownies.

Easy Fudge Brownies

2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/8 tsp salt
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips, divided
1/2 cup chopped walnuts,, divided (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8" x 8" or 7" x 9" pan with nonstick spray. Combine sugar, melted butter, egg and vanilla in a medium sized bowl; mix well. Combine flour, cocoa powder, and a salt in a small bowl. Add dry ingredient mixture to wet ingredient mixture. Mix until smooth, Batter will be thick. Stir in 1/4 cup of chocolate chips and, if desired, 1/4 cup walnuts to batter. Spread batter evenly in pan. Bake 18-20 minutes or until brownie is set in center. Remove from oven and place on cooling rack. Immediately sprinkle remaining chocolate chips over hot brownie. Let chocolate stand 5 minutes or until softened; spread melted chocolate evenly. If desired, sprinkle with remaining walnuts.

Yarn Stash-Buster Challenge- The Cowl

2013-03-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

I finally finished the cowl I was working on for my sister. I used up 3.7oz (105g)of yarn for this project.

I found the pattern on Craftsy:
http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/crocheting/accessory/triangle-cowl/83

Here are some of my notes on the project: I didn't use worsted weight yarn. When I was looking for yarn in the color I had in mind I found the prefect yarn at big lots of all places, except it was perfect because it was a 3 weight yarn. Because it was a lighter weight yarn this project because more difficult than it needed to be. I used a G hook instead of the larger sized hook the pattern calls for, since it was more appropriate for my yarn. Because I used a smaller hook, the finish project was of course going to turn out smaller. I corrected that by repeating the 4 row motif an extra time before doing the long chain at the end row 16. (Row 16 became row 20 for me.) I made the long chain at the end of row 16 198 chains long instead of 162, so I could fit the pattern in 2 additional times. I also repeated rows 25-28 of the pattern an extra time. I hope that makes sense. I know in the comments on Craftsy a lot of people had a hard time following the pattern. I actually found it rather easy to follow, but I can see how an inexperienced crocheter might have a hard time.

Lanas De Ana

Linda's Crafty Corner

Peanut Butter Cookies

2013-03-19T15:40:00.004-07:00

I know, I know, it's not Monday, so I'm really, really late with my post this week, Luckily, I'm remembering now and not putting it up tomorrow. Luckily, I have stash of pictures of stuff I've cooked all ready to go that just need typed up in a post and I don't have to bake something before I can get a new post up. Life with two kids is busy.

I really love peanut butter cookies. I don't make them very often, which is probably a good thing for my waistline. I know this from experience. I used to work at a Mrs. Fields in the mall and between the peanut butter cookies and the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies any healthy eating habits I had were doomed. Anyway, this is recipe for peanut butter cookies that I grew up on. These cookies are especially great when they are warm and fresh, right out of the oven so I'll make up a batch of dough and keep it in the fridge and just bake up half a dozen at a time in the toaster oven. It certainly makes the cookies last longer than if I baked the whole batch at once and ate them all in one afternoon.

Peanut Butter Cookies

1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup shortening
1 cup peanutbutter
2 eggs
2 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

Mix sugars, shortening, peanut butter, and eggs. Stir in flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours. Roll into balls. Flatten by criss-crossing with fork. Bake at 350F for 10 minutes or until light golden brown.

Black Bean Tacos

2013-03-11T09:22:00.002-07:00

I post a lot of things on pinterest thinking "That looks good, maybe I'll make that someday." Every once in a while I pin something and it's not a maybe I'm going to make it, it's an I am definitely going to make it and I get all the stuff I need for it at my next trip to the grocery store. This recipe was an I'm definitely going to make it. I saw these crunchy black bean tacos pinned from Cornerstone Cooking and knew I needed to try them. I didn't follow the instructions exactly and apparently didn't have cumin like the original recipe called for. I never use cumin, but I would have sworn it came with my spice rack. I guess I was wrong. Anyways, these things were delicious and a lot more filling than I would have expected. We liked them with a little bit of guacamole and some salsa verde. I'll definitely make these again.

Black Bean Tacos

1 can black beans, drained
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp dried cilantro
4-6 ounces pepper jack cheese, grated
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Corn tortillas

In a frying pay cook onions in a little oil until tender, add garlic and cook another minute or two. Add beans paprika and cilantro and cook until heated through.In a large, non-stick skillet or cast iron skillet, add a few tablespoons of oil and heat over medium-high heat.Add one corn tortilla at a time and let each get hot in the oil for a few seconds. Then add about 1/4 cup of the bean mixture to one half of the tortilla. Top with a some of the grated cheese.Using a spatula, carefully fold the tortilla over so it forms a shell. Press down lightly on the tortilla so it holds its shape.As the first tortilla cooks, move it to the side and do a second one. Depending on the size of your pan, you should be able to get 2 or 3 tacos at once. Cook each taco for about 3 minutes per side until they are nicely browned and crispy. Tip: When flipping the taco to cook on the other side, use a spatula and flip the taco toward the fold so the filling doesn't fall out. Serve with salsa, guacamole, sour cream, etc.

Yarn Stash-Buster Challenge - Crochet Dresses

2013-03-08T11:59:00.000-08:00

To use up some of my yarn stash this month I was lucky that I needed to make some baby gifts. One of the ladies at church was having baby shower for her daughter, due in June. Another lady at church just had a baby. I generally make hats and booties for people, but as winter is coming to an end I wanted to make something that would be a little more useful for the warmer months of the year. Both babies being girls I decided to make a couple of dresses. One with flowers and one with bows. I had some beautiful pink, green, and white self striping yarn in my closet that some one gave me. I didn't think it would really be appropriate for anything other than something for a baby girl. I took these dresses as the perfect opportunity to use up some of this yarn. You can see in the pictures that I used pink yarn for the top of the dress and the multi-colored yarn for the body of the dress. I generally don't use patterns when I crochet so I designed the top of the dress myself I've decided to share my pattern with you (scroll down), Hopefully, it makes sense. I'm certainly not a pattern writing expert. To make the rest of the dress I followed this video pattern by the Art of Crochet by Teresa.

I also had an Etsy order for a turtle prop. Like I said, unexpected projects always pop up. Having a little baby around has been nice. I was able to update my pictures of the turtle prop for my Etsy shop. The turtle prop used up some of my yarn stash too. Hurray, for being able to work on a project without having to go to the store to buy supplies. Between the 2 dresses, the booties and the turtle I used about 8.3 oz (235 g) of yarn. Only one week into march and I am definitely doing better than I did in all of February. Up next, time to finish that cowl I keep talking about.

Bodice/yoke of Dress:

Supplies: 2 colors worsted weight yarn, F hook

Row 1: (Right side) With color A(pink in pictures) Foundation HDC 62 stitches (or Chain 64, HDC in 3 chain from hook and in each chain) chain 1 turn.

Row 2-3, Hdc in each stitch, Chain 1, Turn

Row 4: Hdc in 10 next stitches, Chain 15, skip next 11 stitches. HDC in next 20 stitches, Chain 15, skip next 11 stitches. HDC in next 10 stitches. Chain 1 Turn.

Row 5: HDC in next 10 stitches. 15 HDC in CH 15 Space, HDC in next 20 stitches, 15 HDC in in CH 15 space, HDC in next 10 stitches. Chain 1.

To make button holes: Rotate 90 degrees clockwise to work down the side or the ends of the rows. 1sc in end of row 5. Chain 2, 1sc in end of row 3. Chain 2.1 sc in end of row 1, Chain 1, Turn.

1sc in first sc, 2sc in chain 2 space. 1sc in next sc, 2sc in chain 2 space. 1sc in next sc. Fasten off.

With right side facing attach color B (multi-color yarn in pictures) to end of Row one (the end without the button holes). Sc in end of each row. 3sc in 1st stitch of row 5. Sc in each next 8 hdc. In next 2 stitches HDC 2 together, to decrease by one stitch. Sc in next 13 stitches. In next 2 stitches HDC 2 together, to decrease by one stitch. Sc in next 18.In next 2 stitches HDC 2 together, to decrease by one stitch. Sc in next 13 stitches.In next 2 stitches HDC 2 together, to decrease by one stitch. Sc in next 9 and the ends of the button hole rows stitches. 3sc in first sc of last button hole row and next 5 sc. 3sc in last stitch of button hole row. Sc in the ends of button hole rows. Continue working the body of the dress using the Solomon's knot as found on the Art of Crochet by Teresa.(Video instructions here) I attached my Solomon's knots to the bodice/yoke about every 3rd stitch.

Lanas De Ana

Linda's Crafty Corner

Homemade Chocolate Syrup

2013-03-04T06:30:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Syrup is very important in our household. You see, my toddler wont go down for a nap unless he has a sippy cup of chocolate milk. Because I consider nap time valuable, I'll give him that chocolate milk. Don't judge. Well, we were running low on chocolate milk and I forgot to get milk at the store. I figured chocolate syrup couldn't be difficult to make and probably didn't use any ingredients I didn't already have on hand. I did a google search and decided on a recipe from Alton Brown, because Alton has never lead me astray before. It was easy and it tasted great even though I didn't use the high quality ingredients Alton would use. Like my toddler would know the difference anyway.

Chocolate Syrup

1 1/2 cups water
3 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cocoa powder
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons light corn syrup

In a small pot, bring water and sugar to a boil and whisk in cocoa, vanilla, salt, and corn syrup. Whisk until all of the solids have dissolved. Reduce sauce until slightly thickened. Strain and cool to room temperature. (I'll be honest, I didn't actually strain mine) Pour into squeeze bottles. Squeeze into cold milk and stir for delicious chocolate milk or serve on your favorite ice cream.

Yarn Stash-Buster Challenge - February Projects

2013-02-27T20:28:00.001-08:00

Remember how I decided to join in on the stash-buster challenge at Lanas De Ana and Linda's Crafty Corner? Well, here is an update on the projects I made for February. Last month, I mentioned a few projects I wanted to work on. Unfortunately, I didn't use up as much yarn as I would have liked to. A baby and a toddler can make it difficult to find the time to crochet and I haven't master the art of crocheting while nursing and I probably never will.

I did manage to make a little bonnet and booties to get some 2 month pictures of baby girl.

I also made a little hat and tie for a friend to use as a photography prop. Baby girl made a wonderful little model for that project too.

Between the 2 projects I used about 4.8 ounces (136g) of yarn. Hardly a dent in the baskets and baskets of yarn in my closet.

So, whats next for March? I am definitely going to finish working on the cowl for my sister. I'm almost done. I have about a row and half left to crochet and then some fringe to add. I need to make a couple of baby gifts. I plan on making a hat for the hubby. I need to work on that blanket for baby girl. I'm sure a couple of unplanned projects will pop up too. They always do. Let's see how much of this I actually get done.

White Chocolate Creme Brulee

2013-02-25T09:00:00.003-08:00

We didn't really do anything special for Valentine's in our house. We stayed home and I cooked some chicken tenders as per my husbands request and we had a great parent moment as we tried to enjoy our dinner with a toddler refusing to eat his food and a screaming baby in the background. The one thing special I decided on doing for Valentine's was that I was going to make creme brulee for dessert. I posted this recipe for Easy Creme Brulee for Two a while back. It was good creme brulee especially since it was made with milk, but I've been trying to think of ways to make better creme brulee. I wanted to make some changes so that it would set up better and have a nicer texture. A while back we went to a restaurant and got some white chocolate creme brulee. It was fabulous! I decided I wanted my better version of creme brulee to have white chocolate in it too. This is what I came up. This recipe will make enough to fill 3-4 ramekins. I filled up 3 ramekins, but this stuff is rich and a smaller portion would still have been perfect if I would have divided it into 4 portions.

White Chocolate Creme Brulee

1 Cup half and half
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar
boiling water
Sugar

Preheat oven to 350F and start boiling some water. In a small pot heat half and half with white chocolate until white chocolate is melted into half and half and the edges of the mixture start to bubble. Remove from heat and add vanilla. In a bowl mix together egg yolks and sugar. Mix a small spoonful of hot half and half mixture into the egg mixture and then mix in the remaining half and half mixture. Divide the mixture among ramekins and place them into a baking dish. Add one inch of boiling water to the baking dish. Bake for 30-40 minutes until centers are just set (mixture will jiggle.) Remove from oven and let cool in the water for 30 minutes. Remove from pan. Cover ramekins and chill in the refrigerator for at least two hours. Just before serving sprinkle tops with sugar. Broil on top rack of oven for 3-4 minutes or heat with a torch, if you happen to have one.

Creamy Lemon Oat Bars

2013-02-18T06:30:00.000-08:00

I was looking through one of my Pinterest boards for an idea for a great sweet treat to make for the Super Bowl. I came across a recipe for creamy lemon oat bars. They looked pretty easy. They used oatmeal cookie mix so you know they weren't all that complicated. As I went to make my shopping list I went back to Pinterest, back to my board and clicked on the picture for creamy lemon oat bars. Only this time it was a different recipe. Apparently I've pinned more that one version of these things. This recipe came from GroupRecipes.com and these were made from scratch. I liked that better because I didn't need to waste money on a cookie mix when I already had all the ingredients I needed in my cupboard. Even making them from scratch this recipe was still super easy....and delicious.

Creamy Lemon Oat Bars

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
Zest of one lemon
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about one lemon)
1 1/4 cups flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar shopping list
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Heat oven to 375F degrees. Coat 8 x 8 inch pan with non-stick cooking spray. Mix milk, lemon zest and lemon juice in medium bowl until thickened; set aside. Mix remaining ingredients in medium bowl until crumbly. Press half of the crumbly mixture in pan; bake about 10 minutes or until set. Spread lemon milk mixture over baked crust. Sprinkle remaining crumbly mixture over the lemon milk mixture, press down gently. Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are golden brown and center is set but soft. Cool completely. Yield 16.

Ultimate Double Chocolate Brownies

2013-02-11T06:30:00.000-08:00

Look! A post that isn't breakfast food! I'm a big fan of brownies and I have to admit that I am a big fan of brownie mixes. They are easy and they always turn out great. I'm not sure I've ever taken the time to make brownies from scratch. I was really craving brownies the other day and since brownies are my biggest weakness I absolutely had to make some. I didn't have an mixes so I decided to make some from scratch. I searched through some cookbooks and found this recipe from Taste of Home. These brownies are on the darker side of chocolate. I like dark chocolate so I'd definitely make them again. These brownies are on the darker side of chocolate. The recipe calls for semi sweet chocolate chips, but I actually used these fancy milk chocolate and peanut butter swirled chips we found once. I've been saving them in my fridge for a great recipe to use them in and they just weren't getting used. This recipe was as good as any to use these chips up. The milk chocolate helped sweetened the brownies up.

Ultimate Double Chocolate Brownies

3/4 cup baking cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2/3 cup butter, melted, divided
1/2 cup boiling water
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups (12 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips I actually used these fancy milk chocolate and peanut butter

In a large bowl, combine cocoa and baking soda; blend 1/3 cup melted butter. Add boiling water; stir until well blended. Stir in sugar, eggs and remaining butter. Add flour, vanilla salt. Stir in the chocolate chips.

Pour into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake at 350° for 35-40 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool. Yield: 3 dozen.

Nutritional Facts:

1 serving (1 each) equals 159 calories, 8 g fat (4 g saturated fat), 21 mg cholesterol, 73 mg sodium, 22 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 2 g protein.

Valentine's Day Ideas

2013-02-04T06:30:00.000-08:00

If you didn't notice, I did a little bit of a remodel to the blog. I cleaned up the side bars a little bit. I also decided to break away from the generic word art I had in my header art and made a header that was more personalized. I've also been doing a bunch of maintenance to the Facebook Page. I changed the profile picture and the cover photo. I've also been adding all of the recipes to albums with links to their posts on the blogs so people can easily get to my recipes from Facebook. Go check out my Facebook Page and follow along on Facebook. Next task: update Google+

For know I want to take the time to share some of my recipes that I think would be great for Valentine's.

Let's start with some goodies that would be great to share with others.

These Sprits cookies would be great as long as you pull out the heart shaped cookie press.

Another great treat is these Chocolate Truffle Hearts. The heart shape is achieved with the cookie press but they can easil be made into round balls. No fancy equipment required.

Something about cherries just says Valentine's do I think these Chocolate Cherry Shortbread Bars would make a great Valentine's treat.

Maybe you need a make fabulous dessert to share with your sweet heart.

Try the Brownie Bottom Raspberry Swirled Cheesecake

the White Chocolate Cherry Pie

or some delicious Chocolate Mousse

Here are some recipes made just for two.

Easy Creme Brulee

Chocolate Melting Cake

linked up at: Fluster Buster

Yarn Stash-Buster Challenge

2013-01-31T10:32:00.002-08:00

The Ladies over at Lanas De Ana and Linda's Crafty Corner are challenging us to get rid of that stash of yarn. My closet is over flowing with yarn, so I'm in.

Here it goes. This is my stash of yarn. Well, most of it anyway. I'm sure I have more hiding in some more plastic bins with some finished projects. I don't know what I plan to do with all of this yarn , but I have some ideas.

First of all, I need to work on that blanket I mentioned I was making for baby girl. I didn't get it done before she came. Oops. It's using a lot of yarn from my stash. No point in buying new yarn when I have lots of left overs from other projects.

I also plan to work on this chapeau afghan. It's a great way to use up some of that scrap yarn that you just can't bare to get rid of, but you don't have enough left to make an entire project with it.

I also plan to pull out some of the blue yarn and make another hat for little boy, which means I'll probably pull out some pink or purple yarn and make a hat for baby girl too.

I also need to finish making this cowl for my sister. I've already made on for my mom. For the stash-buster challenge, maybe one for myself as well because I bought more yarn than I needed and have plenty to make a third cowl.

Now, I just found out about this challenge today, so I didn't really make anything for the challenge for January. Coincidentally, I actually did use some of my stash this month. I made a few hats to donate to the oncology ward of a children's hospital. I'll talk more about that in a future post. Be on the look out for that, because it will include a free pattern for the maroon hat. I already have this pattern for the little yellow sun hat, if you are interested.