Cookie Crumbs & Sawdust

no bake birthday cake

2013-06-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

I have tell you why the girl who loves to make everything from scratch would even bother with something so simple.

This really is the easiest ice cream cake you will ever make!

This really should be named the I-just-moved-cake.

This came about as a result of my little girl's birthday falling just days after we moved cross country for a summer internship. Since it was just for the summer, we packed pretty much just our clothes -I had no kitchen to speak of. I even bought the plastic platter the cake sits on!

So you really can just run to the grocery store the day before, purchase all the components, assemble, and throw a cute little party the next day.

(Obviously, my little girl was obsessed with Dora the Explorer at the time.)

Oh, and the guests at the party - total strangers. Both cute little families from Church we had just met, one who was also there for a summer internship like Handyman. We still get together with them when we're in the same town! So fun to make friends everywhere you go!

Ingredients

19 ice cream sandwiches
1 carton (12 oz) Cool-Whip, thawed
1 jar (11 3/4 oz) hot fudge topping
1 cup salted peanuts (optional)

Directions

Cut one ice cream sandwich in half. Place one whole and one half sandwich along a short side of a 9x13 pan. Arrange eight sandwiches in opposite direction in the pan.
Spread the fudge topping on top of the ice cream sandwiches, sprinkle with 1/2 cup peanuts.
Spread half of whipped topping on top of sandwiches, fudge, and peanuts.
Layer again with remaining 9 and 1/2 ice cream sandwiches, then the remaining whipped topping and sprinkle with the remaining peanuts.
Cover and freeze overnight, or at least 8 hours.

Makes 12-24 servings depending on size.

Serving Tip:
Remove from the freezer 20 minutes before serving.

yard work

2013-06-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

This year we've finally made some big changes to the front landscaping. When we built our front steps, posted here, we took out four bushes flanking the front door. But we still had five overgrown/outdated shrubs remaining.

With just a morning, a chain, and the tow hitch on our trusty mini-van, they were out. Admittedly, it may have been faster if we hired someone else to do it, or at least rented a bobcat. But the persistent and sweat equity saved a bunch of money.

A new blank landscaping slate.

Before we had overgrown bushes and a grass bed. We removed the bushes and grass and created a flower bed closet to the house. We also planted a few new rhododendron, since we have them in other areas of our yard, you can see them here. The result is a cleaner more contemporary look.

Once the bushes were gone, we leveled and mulched the bed. We also removed all the red mulch on the other side of the walking path and planted grass seed. We have a number {lots}of flower beds, so eliminating one will make the yard maintenance easier.

New arbor vitae

We also dug up a row of old shrubs along the parameter and planted eight new arbor vitae. As they grow, they'll created a better (and more private) green fence then leggy and scraggly shrubs we had before.

We purchased a small trailer from some friends last winter and it came in handy transporting all the brush to the town drop-off site and purchasing a load of mulch. It was much more economical to purchase the mulch by the yard than the individual bags from the home improvement store. A trailer full was only $12.

And of course, we've enjoyed all our blooming bushes this spring. I have these cuties that put out these pretty little white blossoms.

What improvements have you made?

beach party

2013-06-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

School is letting out across the country, which leads to. . .summer birthdays and summer pool parties. Put 'em together and you can have a fun summer birthday beach pool party anywhere -pool or no pool!

summer birthdays + summer pool parties =summer beach pool parties!

My friend hosted the cutest beach themed pool party for her twin little girls last year. She thought of everything. . .

Her guests were greeted with this huge Hawaiian style poster that she painted.

She hung these fun inflatable fish all around the pool area.

She continued the Hawaiian theme with this beautifully cut and arranged pineapple platter.

She even provided guests with grass skirts and leis to wear after the swimming and during the cake and ice-cream portion of the party.

When it was time for cake, she served these cute cupcakes -little bears sunbathing on the beach under umbrellas, while other little cookie bears were floating in inner tubes in the ocean (pictured above).

I think this party could easily be adapted to a beach-themed sprinkler party.

Do you have any fun summer beach party or pool party plans?

all the fun things you find

2013-06-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

We recently finished stripping the wallpaper in our living room and our dining room (you can read about it here and here). Although its a lot of work, it is always fun to peel back the layers and find the little and the larger pieces of our home's history.

For example, I often come across notes:

But this time, we came across a window.

Apparently, there used to be two windows in my dining room. We're guessing they removed it when they added on the family room. Which makes sense because it sits right in the middle of my front porch's header, making it structurally necessary or at least inhibiting the view.

Have you made any fun discoveries? Or left any for others to find?

Easy 3D Star of the Week Poster

2013-06-04T00:00:00.000-04:00

It seems like at some point either in kindergarten or preschool my kids are featured as star of the week. This usually requires creating a huge poster all about them to share with the rest of the class.

Well, sometimes we just get short on time and end up hastily throwing something together the night before.

Well, no one needs to know you throw this one together in a flash. Its super easy and looks great.

Using everyday objects that represent your child's love or passions is easy.

With just a few tools and a few preparatory steps, you can toss this one together fast!

You will need:

1 large poster board (any color)
3-7 photos of your child
scrapbook book paper (any that you like, just coordinate with your poster board)
glue stick
wire
heavy duty scissors or wire cutters
a few of your child's favorite objects

Print or gather your selected photos. I like to print my photos all in the same color. For this poster, since I was using a blue poster board, I printed all the photos in blue and white from Costco.
Purchase large letters or cut out you child's name. I like to use an Ellison press. Most schools and libraries have an Ellison press available for patrons. If your library doesn't have one available for public use, but you spy the classic clean cut letters adorning the library walls, chances are good they have one. Just ask! My local library owns one but not for personal use. But they are more than happy to cut out my letters for me when I bring in some paper and ask nicely.
Layout your photos, any text, and of course your child's favorite object(s). One of my daughter's LOVES chocolate, so for hers, I included a small bag of chocolate chips tied with a bow.
Once you like your layout, glue it all down.
Attach your objects. Punch two small holes into the poster board. Thread the wire over the object and into the holes. Twist tie the wire in the back and tape down. For larger items, you may need more than one set of holes. For the lion stuffed animal (pictured above), I wired both his neck and the middle of his body.

What's your oops-I-need-make-this-in-a-hurry-method for school projects?

{how to} strip wallpaper

2013-05-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

After moving into a house with a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms covered in wallpaper, I've learned a thing or two about getting it down.

I tried the gel. I tried the vinegar & water solution. The steamer is the easiest and lest smelliest method.

Check out my post here, before getting started.

If you're lucky, you'll have strippable wallpaper that comes down with just a yank. But chances are if you are reading this post, you are looking for more help.

After using various methods, I found this one to be the best. Keep in mind, I have plaster walls. You may want to test a small, inconspicuous section if your walls are drywall (sheet rock). I've read that a steamer can potentially damage sheet rock, since the outer layer is paper.

Remove the Outer Layer

Wallpaper is typically composed of two layers, the outer decorative layer and the paper backing. The first step is to remove the outer layer. Starting at a seem, peel off the outer layer. This can come off easily and in large sections. Work slowly to remove the entire piece in one section.

Remove the Paper Backing

Once the top layer is removed, you should be left with the paper backing. If the wall was prepped with a primer prior to the wallpaper installation, the paper backing comes off quite easily. If the wallpaper was applied to a bare wall, it will be more stubborn and may require some repair work after all the paper is down.

Using your steamer, get the backing wet. It changes color -from a light beige to darker beige when moistened. When it's wet enough just use the putty knife at a 45 degree angle and slide it between the paper and wall. If there is any resistance, steam the section again and wait for the moisture to completely soak the paper. When wet enough, it too comes off in the sections it was applied.

Clean As You Go

Use your rag to wipe and clean the walls as you move around the room. You want to remove all the wallpaper adhesive off of the walls.

Other Information

Now that I use a steamer, I don't even bother to score the paper first. The steam penetrates the paper wall enough to skip this step -which I love because I really can't stand that screechy sound.

I like to work top to bottom, left to right. I'm left handed, making it comfortable to steam with my right hand and scrap with my left. If you're right handed it may be more comfortable to work right to left. I also work top to bottom and let gravity do half of the work.

We've had to do at least some repair work (mud and sand) to all our wallpapered rooms. And in our living room, we had water damage around a window that required chipping off all the old plaster and re-mudding it. And although it is a small inconvenience, it worth it remove the dated wallpaper and make our house our own home.

Do you have experience with lots of wallpaper?

{new} old fashion oatmeal cookies

2013-05-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

Looking for a packable treat for your Memorial day picnic? These fit the bill!

I got this recipe from a friend and I just had to try it. Handyman was out town, the kids in bed, the kitchen clean, and I without any book to read. So what else to do? Bake, of course. And good thing, because the next day one of my friends was sick and this was the perfect dessert to go with the dinner that I took her. Let's face it, I didn't want these sweet little treasures sitting around my house -my kids ate one after lunch and then I packed up the rest.

I love baking for other people!

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/4 cups butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups oats, rolled or quick
prepared cream filling (recipe below)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375F.
Beat butter and sugars with an electric mixer at medium speed until creamy. Add the egg and the vanilla, beating well.
Combine the flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon in a separate bowl and whisk together. Add to the butter mixture. Add oats; stir well.
Drop by rounded tablespoonful onto baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 375F for 9-11 minutes.
Cool on pan 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the cookies from pan and let finish cooling on wire racks.
Spread 1 tablespoon cream filling over bottom side of half of the cookies. Top with remaining cookies, right side up.

Cream Filling

1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat ingredients together until combined and light and fluffy.

{essential} wallpaper stripping tools

2013-05-22T00:00:00.000-04:00

After moving into a house with a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and three bedrooms covered in wallpaper, I've learned a thing or two about getting it down.

The first step to stripping wallpaper is having the right tools.

After trying various methods and tools, I've narrowed it down to four tools.

MY FAVORITE WALLPAPER STRIPPING TOOLS:

steamer
putty knife (scrapper)
rag
platform

STEAMER
My Shark mop has a lift away steam unit. This is a life (and a time!) saver when it comes to wallpaper stripping. I would even consider purchasing it just for this feature. If you don't have a steamer, ask around. One of your friends or relatives probably do.

SCRAPER
You will need a metal scraper. Chances are good you already have one around the house. If not, they are readily available at the hardware store. As you can see, mine is well used. Remember to scrape at a 45 degree angle.

RAG
I find it handy to have an old rag nearby to wipe up excess water drops or stubborn glue. I just throw mine in the laundry with all my other dirty work/cleaning rags.

PLATFORM
I'm petite, so a platform is absolutely necessary to just to reach my short ceilings. You could use a step stool, but a work platform gives you about four feet before you need to hop down and scoot your self over. We bought ours on sale at the home improvement store, and it makes all DIY projects much easier.

Do you have experience stripping wallpaper? What have you found that works best?

Stay tuned for next week, when we'll go into detail on how to use these tools to get that pesky, ugly, outdated, or stubborn paper off.

This post may contain affiliate links to products that you can buy. Purchasing through one of these links doesn't cost you anything extra, but it earns me a small commission that helps keep CookieCrumbsandSawdust going. Thanks for your support!

clock {birthday} cake

2013-05-20T00:00:00.000-04:00

My daughter's birthday is coming up at the end of this month. When I asked her what she wanted for her cake, she replied, "a clock cake!" Admittedly, its a bit of an odd choice, but hey, it's her birthday right?

I made one for her 4th birthday a few years back. It came about after I let her browse my cake decorating book. It's suggested event is New Year Eve, setting the hands on midnight, but since she was turning four, we adapted it to four o'clock.

With some frosting, peppermint patties, and mini chips, you've got an easy birthday cake!

You Will Need:

a baked and frosted birthday cake (any flavor)
12 peppermint patties
frosting stiffened with meringue powder (any color)
small decorating tip and pastry bag
mini chocolate chips or mini M&Ms

Prepare and frost you cake according to the recipe. I choose to do a two layer circle cake, making the peppermint patty placement super easy.
Add a small amount of meringue powder to your frosting, according to the amount on the package. Meringue powder can easily be purchased at most craft stores in the baking section.
Pipe the numbers 1-12 individually on a peppermint patty, using the pastry bag and tip. Let stiffen. (This should only take a few minutes)
Place the patties on a circle on your cake. Kids love to help with this step.
Arrange the mini chocolate chips at the desired time. Use a toothpick to gently pre-mark the frosting if you like.

Server's Tip:

This could be fun for a child's first birthday. Just arrange the time at the moment the baby was born.

Other Ideas:

Substitute colorful mini candies for the chocolate chips.

Substitute grasshopper cookies for the peppermint patties.

snickerdoodles

2013-05-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

Can you believe I never ate a snickerdoodle until just a few years ago? We had just moved cross-country, and my pared down pantry was vacant of all liquids. I wanted to make to make cookies, but with three little kids at home, I didn't want to run to the grocery store just to purchase vanilla. So after scouring my family cook book, I came across this recipe from my sweet sister-in-law. No vanilla needed! It was perfect. After years of baking them, I've adapted it to the recipe below.

These make perfect little gifts or a post-lunch sweet. Give 'em a try.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
In a medium bowl whisk together the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and the salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs. Scrap down the sides of the bowl, and add the whisked dry ingredients. Beat to combine.
In a small bowl, combine the reserved 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon. Shape the dough into balls and roll in sugar mixture.
Place balls about two inches apart on the baking sheet.
Bake 8-10 minutes or until set.
Let cookies sit five minutes on the baking sheet on a wire cooling rack before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

it's a love/hate relationship, really

2013-04-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

with my house, that is.

Some days, I'm just frustrated.

only weeks away from having these bloom in my yard again!

But today I remember the reasons why I love it.

the tall, tall trees in my view
the birds singing outside my windows
how from certain angles I can't even see another house
how I can walk out in the summer and dip my toes in the pool
how my sun room floods with pure light every afternoon
how it challenges my whole design thinking
just how cute it is. Really. It will never be fancy, prestigious, or stately. Just cute and charming {hopefully}.
despite how small it is, I have an incredible amount of built-in storage
my shuttered closet doors throughout
my built-in dining room hutch
my frequently used wood burning fireplace
my mature landscaping (sometimes, too mature, overgrown)

So these are some of the things I remember when I tire of looking at the weird wall paper in the powder room or am frustrated when I think of how much green we've spent just to bring up to today's standards.

when the only shower falls apart two days before Christmas and house guests come for a holiday visit
the garbage disposal overflows in the basement and throws up all of my new beautiful washer and dryer
when the heater decides its had enough, rusts through and floods the basement
when the jerry-rigged water heater really decides its had enough and metal pieces start flying off of it and floods the basement again
when the front steps disintegrate our first winter here and become a lawsuit waiting to happen
when the melted snow from the roof starts running down the inside of my living room wall
when the power goes out because, well frankly, that's what it does here anytime there's a storm (rain, wind, snow)
when half the power goes out and we start trading appliances for power while we wait for the power company to replace an exterior breaker

Do you have a love/hate relationship with your house? What is about your house that you absolutely love? and makes you forget all the frustrating stuff?

bbq + ranch deviled eggs

2012-11-26T08:00:00.000-05:00

I made these deviled eggs for Thanksgiving appetizers this year. Considering I was preparing three other dishes, I wanted to make something yummy and easy for my appetizers. And yummy they were. And gone in a flash! They are just as easy to make as the traditional variety.

This fun spin on a classic works for any party or season!

Ingredients:

8 large eggs, hard cooked, cooled, and peeled
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons ranch dressing
3 tablespoons of your favorite bottled BBQ sauce

Directions:

Slice the eggs in half lengthwise. Scoop out the yolk and combine with the mayonnaise, mustard, and ranch dressing.
Spoon or pipe the yolk mixture into the hollow egg whites.
Drizzle with the BBQ sauce.

classic apple pie

2012-11-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

Thanksgiving is only a few weeks, and one of my favorite things to do is plan our Turkey Day dinner menu.

A few years I made this classic apple pie to finish off our terrific turkey dinner. I borrowed some leaf-shaped cookie cutters from my professional cake baking friend and used them to cut out leaves for the top layer of the pie. I simply scored them with a sharp paring knife to add some additional natural vein details.

Serve al a mode with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a sprinkling of cinnamon, and you're sure to impress all your guests.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 to 1 1/2 recipes Pate Brisee Deep-Dish Pate Brisee
1 large egg yolk
1 tablespoon heavy cream
3 pounds assorted apples, such as Macoun, Granny Smith, cortland, Jonagold, or empire, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Directions

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one pate brisee disc into a 13-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. With a sharp paring knife, trim dough flush with the rim. Freeze again until firm, at least 30 minutes.
Roll out remaining 2 discs of pate brisee to about 1/8 inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes. Remove from freezer; using a 2 1/4-inch leaf-shaped cutter, cut out about 65 leaves and place them in a single layer on baking sheet. Place in refrigerator until firm.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and heavy cream; set aside. In a large bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Remove pie shell from freezer, and fill with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
Remove leaves from refrigerator, and score with a paring knife to make veins. Lightly brush the edge of the pie shell with water. Brush the bottom of each leaf with water; beginning with the outside edge, arrange leaves in a slightly overlapping ring. Repeat to form another ring slightly overlapping the first. Continue until only a small circle of filling is left uncovered in the center.
Carefully brush the top of the leaves and pie edge with the reserved egg wash, and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Freeze or refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
Place pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake until crust just begins to brown, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. If the crust begins to get too dark, drape a piece of aluminum foil over the top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Recipe source: Martha Stewart

{the last} step

2012-10-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

We put our wood floor down last summer (posted here), and then basically took the summer off from indoor projects. So some time passed before we got around to getting the step in that separates the kitchen and family room. It was one of these projects that doesn't take long once you do it, we just had to stop doing other projects to get around to it.

The tread need to fit in and around the existing new trim that we put up. Handyman used his saw to notch out the tread step.

Then, he applied a few coats of poly to protect the wood. Its in a high traffic area, so the step will get a lot of use.

Once he got it set, we avoided stepping on it for a day, so that it could set. We didn't want it to shift.

And its been good ever since. And that little step was literally the last step of the family room renovation.

What have you been putting off doing?

banana bread muffins

2012-09-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

This was my grandmother's award-winning banana bread recipe. I've modified it to fit into a busy afternoon of homework and soccer practice. Or you can bake them on the weekend, keep them in the freezer, and just pull them out as you want throughout the week.

put those over ripen bananas to good use-

the riper the better in these perfect after school snack muffins

Ingredients

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened
1 c sugar
2 eggs
3-4 over ripe bananas
1t vanilla
2 c flour
1 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/2 c walnuts (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time. Add the vanilla.
In a separate, mash the bananas with a fork. (If bananas are soft or you using an electric mixer, skip this step. The bananas will incorporate just fine without being mashed.
In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients and sift with a whisk. Add to the wet ingredients in 2 or 3 batches. Mix just until combined.
Bake in greased muffin tins for 18 minutes. Muffins are done when a tooth pick stuck in the center comes out clean.
Let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 2 dozen muffins

raspberry shortcake

2012-08-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

these sweet cakes incorporate some of the raspberries right into the shortcake

I made these little sweet treats for a last minute get together with my girlfriends the other week. They were easy to throw together, used mostly pantry items, and were fresh and summery. Definitely girl food that any guy would sneak a bit of!

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup cold heavy cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1 cup raspberries
Sanding sugar (optional)
Whipped cream and berries, for serving

Directions

In a food processor, combine flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, salt, and butter and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Transfer to a bowl and stir in cream, buttermilk, and raspberries until just combined. Do not over mix.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Divide dough into 8 portions and shape into rounds. Place, 1 1/2 inches apart, on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with sanding sugar, if desired, and freeze 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Let cool completely on sheet on a wire rack. To serve, halve and fill with whipped cream and berries.

how to disguise a tree stump

2012-08-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

If you have a tree stump in your yard, you know how unsightly they can be. And tree stump removal can be costly, and is always messy- imagine wood chips scattered all over your lawn.

We have a older property with a number of tree stumps. Eventually we like to remove them (by grinding or burning) but for now they are here to stay. So to make the best of the situation, I thought it make the perfect little container garden spot.

Just acquire a wine barrel (sometimes you can come across free ones. You can also purchase them inexpensively at the home improvement and hardware stores.)

Place directly over low tree stump and plant with your favorite flowers.

I planted strawberries in mine.

Now my kids have a built-in outdoor snack bar.

For some more inspiration, I found this wine barrel container garden from Centsational Girl. She made good use of the barrel's depth.

source

I also found this image, to satisfy those with the current succulent rage. So cute.

source

The options are endless. What would you do?

spicy pesto fusilli

2012-08-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

An Easy One-Dish Meal
Great back to school dinner + Simple way to sneak some
veggies into pasta

Happy Monday!

I hope you had a good weekend! Ours we filled with lots of swimming, dinner and a movie, and Handyman's camping preparations. (He's taking a group of varsity scouts up to Maine for a week long canoe trip. So, I be solo this week.)

I mentioned before my favorite source for recipes.I do love playing with pesto. Basil and pine nut pesto is certainly classic, but it's also fun to make other flavors, like this pepita filling for cheese flautas, but I decided to branch out a little bit this weekend and make Giada's fusilli with spicy pesto for Sunday dinner.

Its a really simple dish. The recipe says it to takes 54 minutes to prepare, but they must have done the math wrong on that, because I whipped it up and had it on the table in about 15 minutes.

I halved the recipe, because I wasn't sure how spicy it would be, and how much my kids would like it. Turns out, its not really spicy at all . . . but I also didn't add a single jalapeno seed in the pesto either. And my kids did eat it. I had this little visitor digging in before I could even finish snapping a few photos.

A few modifications I would make next time:

Add a few jalapeno seeds for just a little bit of heat
Saute the garlic for just a few minutes before adding to process, just to take the edge off.

I served this with some fresh cantaloupe on the side and declared dinner done. I'll definitely be filing it among my back-to-school-I-need-an-easy-to-make-in- a-hurry dinner option.

Have you made any of Giada's recipes before?

Ingredients

Pesto:

1 cup chopped walnuts
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 (2-inch long) red or green jalapeno pepper, stemmed and coarsely chopped* see Cook's Note
2 cups grated (4 ounces) Asiago cheese
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 ounces baby spinach
3 ounces arugula
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound fusilli pasta
4 ounces Asiago cheese, shaved

Directions

For the pesto: In a food processor, combine the walnuts, garlic, jalapeno, cheese, salt and pepper. Process until the mixture is smooth. Add the spinach and arugula and process until blended. With the machine running, gradually add the olive oil.

summer reads

2012-08-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

Reading has to be one of my ultimate favorite summer pastimes. As a little girl, summer provided an opportunity to re-read all my favorites such as The Secret Garden, Charlotte's Web, Little House on the Prairie series, and of course new titles from our local library.

To this day, summer is still my favorite time to snuggle up with a good book. Some of my favorite past summer selections include (in no particular order):

Playing for Pizza
John Grisham
This is a quintessential summer read -no thinking required. If nothing else, this book will leave you wanting to skip town and head straight to Italy, or your nearest favorite Italian restaurant.

There is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children
Melissa Fay Greene
If you feel the need to revive your hope in the human race, reading about this woman's single handed efforts of rescuing and supporting oprhaned African children, this will do it.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Mary Ann Shaffer
This whimsical story will leave you wanting to find a pen pal, or at least revisit your own personal journal.

These Is My Words: The Diary of Agnes Prine 1881-1901
Nancy E Turner
The strong spirit of this main character girl always leaves me feeling strengthen and grateful for the early American settlers.

A Girl Named Zippy: Growing Up in Mooreland Indiana
Haven Kimmel
Having lived in Indiana for a number of years, I could easily imagine the hometown setting of this main character as she recounts memories of her childhood with a mature wit and a laugh out loud perspective.

Animal Vegetable Miracle
Barbara Kingsolver
If there was ever a book to inspire one to garden and eat local -this is it. This book, complete with recipes, will leave you questioning that salad you ate last winter and wanting to make friends with all the farmers at your local market.

More Sex is Safer Sex: The Unconventional Wisdom of Economics
Steven Landsberg
Just because, I tend to like a good nonfiction read. Don't worry -its actually an economics book. If you like Malcolm Gladwell books, this is right up your alley.

Harry Potter -the entire series
JK Rowling
If you have a chunk of time, this series is always fun to read. A constant page-turner, this jv fiction has universal appeal -even for those who tend to shy away from fantasy -I was happily surprised! Just be prepared with the next book in hand, because you will want it the moment you close it's predecessor.

And if your dishes and laundry happen to pile this summer due to reading any of these books, you can blame me. And if they pile up due to another book pass on the title and share!

What have you been reading?

Linked to Centsational Girl

facebook

2012-08-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

It's a new month, and I've decided it's time I provided a new way for you to get all the same goods.

Here's the link to Cookiecrumbs and Sawdust facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/Cookiecrumbsandsawdust

You can simply like it over on FB and still get all the updates from over here on the blog.

Check it out!

top five {july}

2012-07-31T00:00:00.000-04:00

Just in case you missed one, here are my top five posts from July:

1) my pinterest inspired family room
evidence that a picture is worth a thousand words!

2) pool party favors
simple party favors for all the young fishy guests at your next pool party!

3) how to make ice cream and cake parfaits
my favorite way to serve cake and ice cream at a kids' party!

4) creative clay
making homemade play-doh/clay for kids using only 2 pantry items!
5) cinnamon rolls
the best cinnamon rolls recipe passed on down from Handyman's mom!

A special thank you to my readers! Thank you for stopping and reading my blog. I appreciate all your comments and for joining me on this journey as we take baby steps towards updating, renovating, and decorating our little yellow cape.

lights

2012-07-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

While at Lowes recently, I spotted some fun string lights. Visions of parties and gatherings bounced around my mind as I thought of cute ways to string them up around my own outdoor space.

When I asked Handyman what he thought, (as if I didn't already know the answer) I first got the silent, but really look which quickly transformed into the eternal and ever present what is your obsession with lights question, which without response, relinquishes into the quick and detached whatever look.

We know each other so well. . .

I just love that I can pick up party supplies at the home improvement store. The boring hardware store has certainly evolved since I was a kid. and with so many different choices, it would be easy to find something for any style or occasion.

Take a look.

Alas, i did come home empty hand -this time. Do you have any fun lights adorning your space?

summer sample

2012-07-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

our sample of our summer so far in pictures. . .

How's your summer going so far?

pick your own

2012-07-18T00:00:00.000-04:00

Summer is all about vacations, lazy days, lounging by the pool, sleeping in, bike riding, baseball games, and eating fresh fruit.

All of these activities make an appearance on our annual summer list. Since{for a time period} we used to move every summer, it was handy to know where to pick fresh fruit no matter where we lived. (It's also great if you will be visiting family or friends in a different area and get a hankering for nature's local goodies!)

Luckily, you can find local fruit stands and Pick Your Own (PYO) farms around the country at a single website:
http://pickyourown.org/

Just select your state, and then your county, and a list of local farms come up.

There are even searchable farms outside the US starting to make the list, such as Australia, Italy, and even South Africa.

And better yet, if you know of a local farm that is not listed, just submit it.

PYO really is one of my favorite online resources!

Plus, then you can make yummy strawberry mini muffins, with the day's spoils.

installing a ceiling fan light kit

2012-07-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

Like many of the rooms in our house, our sun room did not have any overhead lighting. It does have a ceiling fan.

Our sun room gets lots of use in the summer and I didn't want to be so dependent on our floor and table lamps all season long. In a rare moment of productivity one day, I picked up a ceiling fan light kit from Lowes.

I also picked up ceiling medallion to make it extra fancy.

Over the weekend, Handyman got to work wiring the light kit into the fan. Pretty simple stuff.

He started by removing the cap and wired the new light to the existing wiring. He just followed the included set of instructions.

(Don't be jealous of my fancy brassy fixture, I have plans for that.)

Ta da, lights works, fan works.

Now, onto the ceiling medallion.

I was always curious to know why the fan was mounted to this square wooden board. Now I know why . . .

There was a small detail I didn't account for when deciding which size medallion to purchase. Turns out, the mounting board really was a big as the ceiling hole. I expected the hole in the drywall only to be a slightly bigger - just big enough to accommodate the fan- not overly big and boxy.

My puny little medallion was suddenly severely underscale, and not nearly large enough to cover the hole. Hmm. . .

You can see it here.

We've since looked into purchasing a completely different ceiling fan for this room, since this project turned out to be a DIY dud. And neither one of is happy with the result -Handyman doesn't care for the light fixture I selected, and I don't like the fan, and neither one of us likes the under scaled medallion.

Oh well. A new fan will be in our future.