Cannolis

I love cannolis.  Who doesn't actually?  Well I can think of a few people, but that is beside the point.  Most people like cannolis and they are a pretty impressive dessert to put in front of your family and guests.  Mostly because they seem really complicated to make.  But here a secret just between you and me and the Internet... they are really easy to make... if you are willing to cheat a little.

Step 1:  Buy the Cannoli Shells (THIS IS THE CHEATING PART) 

I am sure they are a ton of great recipes of the Web with wonderful step by step instructions on how to make your own cannoli shells... but seriously, why bother when you can buy them in the supermarket ready made.  And they are just as good I swear!

 

Step 2: Assemble the Filling

Traditionally, cannolis are filled with a sweetened ricotta cheese.  To make the tradiational filling you will need:

• 1 12oz container of ricotta cheese (whole milk or part skim is fine)
• 1/2 cup of sifted powered sugar
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract 

Mix all of the above together with a wisk.

Step 3: Pipe the Filling into the Cannoli Shells

If you don't like the traditional filling you can always fill them with what you do like.  You could use whipped cream, ice cream, Cool Whip, the possibilities are endless.

Coming to Fruition

Some of the plans I made for last night actually came to fruition!

I did make a pizza for me with smoked chicken, asparagras, and goat cheese:

And I did make small pizzas for Nate's lunch and freezer:

And I did bake an applesauce cake to take on our play date today.  What I did not do is craft.  Oh well, maybe tonight.

Speaking of My Brilliance...

I was looking for a creative, accessible, and cheap way to organize Nate's art supplies.  My parents got him a table and chairs for Christmas and I wanted something to sit on the table to hold his crayons, markets, stamps, and chalk, so that he could create when ever the mood took hold.

I'm sure there is something I could have purchased, but I happened to have a Longaberger basket divided protector hanging around.  It was sturdy, had little divided sections for all the different art supplies, it was clear, so Nate could see what he had to work with, and it was free.  So I put it to work.  I filled it up with his art supplies and sat it in the middle of his table where it has been performing its duties beautifully ever since.

What I will be Doing After Nate Goes to Sleep

1.  Making Pizza -- smoked chicken, aspagras, amd goat cheese for me.  Regular pizza with hidden veggies for Nate to take for lunch

2. Baking something to take to tomorrow's play date with Miss Sophia and Miss Olivia.

3.  Some sort of crafting.

Of course, this is all contingent on me staying awake.  Last night that did not happen... I actually feel asleep on top of my kindle mid page... kinda sad.

Waterproof Mattress Booster

Sometimes I am absolutely brilliant... most of the time I am not, but sometimes, just sometimes, I come up with the best and cheapest solutions to a vexing problem.

We moved Nate to his big boy bed on Christmas Eve.  It went splendidly, better, actually then I expected it to go which was nice.  I had been picking things up here and there in preparation for the big move.  Sheets here and there, the bed rail, the comforter, pillows, etc.  I  even picked up two mattress pad covers.  Usually I only have one mattress pad cover, but since Nate is still in diapers, and since said diapers leak from time to time, I wanted to make sure I had a spare for when one was in the wash.

I bought the mattress pad covers are Target... they were, I don't know, $15 bucks or something like that.  They look like this: 

 

They feel like they are completely made out of paper... cheap, cheap, cheap (in quality) and they don't really even fit the mattress all that well.  I was not pleased, but didn't have many options.

Then I saw this waterproof overlay in a catalog and thought that might be a viable solution.  Put the cheap mattress pad cover on the mattress and put this on top of the sheets as an extra layer of protection.

But that was another $25 bucks that I didn't really want to spend.  Plus, how soft was it?  How comfortable would it be to sleep on?  Questions I didn't have answers to.

So... [This is where the brilliance comes in] it occurred to me that the waterproof overlay looked an awful lot like a crib mattress pad only without the stretchy sides.  I had two crib mattress pads which were waterproof which I wouldn't need once the crib was out of the house.  So, I look those two mattress pads and cut the stretchy sides off making, <> 2 waterproof overlays for absolutely nothing!!!  

Then I had another stroke of genius and that was to make the bed with the twin size waterproof mattress pad on the bed, then the modified crib mattress pad, and then the sheets.  Two layers of protection for the mattress and nate gets to sleep on comfy sheets. 

An added bonus is that the modified crib mattress pads are easy to take off of the mattress and wash.

Brilliant I tell you... BRILLIANT!

My New Toy

As part of an effort to get more exercise, I bought this small stepper so that I can step while watching TV.  I liked the reviews of this one and the fact that it is low impact and easy on your knees.  I thought if I could do 15 -20 minutes 3 times a week I would be off to a good start.  Apparently, I greatly over estimated my in-shape-ness.  At the moment I can manage about 3 minutes before my thighs are on fire and I am out of breath.  (SO PATHETIC!!!) 

I am going to keep plugging away though and one day I will be up to my 15 minutes... let's see how long that takes shall we?

I Finally Finished Nate's Birth Sampler

It is kinda of crooked... I think I would make a lousy quilter, but I really like how it turned out.  I also kind of like that it doesn't have a purpose.  It isn't a pillow or a bookmark.  it is not intended to be framed or hung, it just is.  I made it to be an heirloom and that is what it is.