Making Velvet Ribbon Headbands

Not too long ago, Jon and stopped in a local sporting goods store to look at something... I can't remember what.  I was chasing Nate around the store when I noticed these really pretty fabric headbands.  Well, they weren't really fabric they were ribbon so I stopped to take a closer look.  I can't remember the brand name but I did notice the construction (which was really simple):  Brocade ribbon on the outside, velvet ribbon on the inside (to grip the hair better), and some elastic at the back to keep it tight.  I also noticed the price tag, $8.  "Cute" I thought to myself, and was really tempted to pick one up but then I remembered that I have all of the supplies to make one of these babies at home, so I decided not to pay $8 for something I could make for free.

Although I could have completely "winged it" I decided to troll the Internet (you know there's a lot of great stuff on that Internet) to see if I could find instructions for the headband construction.  I found one that I liked here, but decided to make a few modifications to get my clone of the sporting goods store headband.

I also decided to use the velvet ribbon inside and out since I LOVE the look of velvet ribbon and I happen to have a lot of it in my stash

Gather Your Supplies

• Velvet ribbon(you will need 34" for an adult sized headband)
• 2 Hair elastics
• Heat and Bond or Wonder Under
• Iron 
• Scissors
• Sewing Machine
• Pins
• Thread that matches the ribbon

Step 1: Cut the Ribbon.  For an adult head you will need 34" of velvet ribbon.

Step 2:  Cut a piece of Heat and Bond (or a strip of WonderUnder) 17" long.  Make sure that whatever fuser you are using, either the Heat and Bond or the WonderUnder is just a little bit narrower than your ribbon.

Step 3:  Loop your two hair elastics together so that they are connected with a knot in the middle and they look like this, in a "bow":

NOTE:  If you are using the kind of elastics that have the metal pieces on it (as I did), make sure you loop the elastics together so that the metal pieces are on the outside and not on the inside.

Step 4:  Lay your outside ribbon, right side down on your ironing board.  Lay your Heat and Bond or WonderUnder that has been cut to size on top of that.  Fold the other half of the ribbon over onto itself with the Heat and Bond in the middle.  Slide one loop of your hair elastic "bow" on to the ribbon so that it comes to rest at the fold.  Iron according to the manufacturer's directions, taking care not to melt your elastics.

Step 5:  Put the "raw" edge of the ribbon through the open end of your hair elastic bow and pin to hold in place, like this:

Step 6:  Now it is time to sew.  Shorten the stitch length on your sewing machine.  For example, my regular stitch length is a 2.4 or a 2.5 but for this project a moved it to a 1.8 or there about. 

Once you have shortened your stitch length you will want to sew over both ends of the velvet ribbon to secure it. Both the unpinned and the pinned end:

Go over each a end a few times just to make sure.

Finished!  That was the last step.  What you have just created is a pretty velvet ribbon headband.  And they are quick!  From start to finished I whipped out three of these babies in an hour last night.

P.S.  If you want, you can finish the "raw" edge of the ribbon with Fray Check to make sure that your hard work does not fray away.

Before Bed Beauty Routine

I feel like talking about frivolities today thus the before bed beauty routine post.

I must admit that my before bed routine, is actually pretty extensive and probably overkill, but I feel like bed time is the time to restore everything to its rightful condition before I break it all down during hte day.  LOL!

After I have brushed my teeth, taken my makeup off etc., I get into bed and do the following:

Step 1:  Lips -- Moisturize.  Currently I am using some sort of petroleum jelly product but my all time favorite lip moisturizer is this one from Burt's Bees.

Step 2:  Eyes -- A good eye cream is a must!  Putting on makeup, taking off makeup, squinting, and just about everything else you do with your eyes contributes to fine lines.  You can ward them off with a good eye cream which you pat or dab gently under your eyes (don't rub! EVER!).  I like Burt's Bees Radiance Eye Cream.

Step 3: Nails -- My nails are in terrible shape.  I bite them, they ate brittle and peel, so they take a lot of care.  I found this wonderful product from Sally Hansen called VitaSurge Growth Gel, which promises longer nails in in 5 days, and I have to say that it really works.  So I make a point of applying this nightly.

 

Step 4: Cuticles.  I bite these too :( so a good cuticle cream is a must.  Burt's Bees Lemon Butter cuticle cream is the best!  It hydrates and repairs and smells really good too.

 

Step 5:  Hands.  Hand cream is next. I try to put it on throughout the day but am not always successful.  And by the end of a day filled with hand washing, dish washing, paper shuffling my hands are really dry.  Keilh's Unusually Rich But Not Greasy At All  hand cream is my fav at the moment.

Step 6:  Feet -- Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.  That is all!

Happy Father's Day!

To all the men who make a difference in the lives of children... Happy Day!

To my dad, my husband, my grandfather... Happy Day!

Devil's Food Cupcakes with Marshmallow Cream Filling and Peanut Butter Frosting

Once upon a time, Reeses made a limited edition peanut butter cup with marshmallow in it.  The packae looked liked this:

Although they were widely panned by candy critics I loved them and have been thinking about how to replicate with flavor in some sort of baked good.  In the past I thought brownies were the answer and tried to concoct some sort of marshmallow and peanut butter brownie.  They were a fantastic failure, so back to the drawing board I went.

It hit me last week... cupcakes... cupcakes were the way to go, so last night I got to baking.  First I made devil's food cupcakes.  I made mine from this recipe from King Arthur Flour, but I think a cake mix would work fine too.  Then I cut a little cone out of the middle of the cupcake and piped in some good old fashioned marshmallow Fluff.

Once the cupcakes were filled with fluff I put the little piece of cake back in the cupcake so that they looked as if nothing had happened to them.  The I made peanut butter frosting using this recipe, and piped in on to the top if the cupcake in a decorative pattern.

The result?  These babies... and sore hands from all that piping!

Fantastic Veggie Lunch!

Nate and I had a playdate yesterday with Misses Sophia and Olivia and their mom, my good friend, Lisa.  It was such a wonderfully mild day that we took the kids to the playground in the morning and then headed back to the house for lunch.  The kids had grilled cheese and Lisa made this FANTASTIC cucumber and black bean salad for her and I.  It was Sooooooo good that I will be gathering the ingredients and making it tonight.

One cucumber (diced)
One roma tomato (diced)
One can of black beans (drained and rinsed)
Feta cheese (crumbled) (1/4 -1/ of a cup)
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Lisa combimed all of the above ingredients and then served it in whole wheat pitas.  It was tasty and refreshing and light.  I highly recommend trying this.

Lisa, did I miss anything?

How NOT to Potty Train Your Son

1.  Have no real plan
2.  Expect that, once the diapers are taken away, your 3.5 year old will just know what to do.
3.  Get really frustrated
4.  Cry alot
5.  Be inconsistent with rewards

I took last week off to potty train  Nate.  It did not work.  We gave it a good try.  Four solid days of big boy undies, frog potties, timers, not leaving the house, spending a lot of time sitting on the bathroom floor, but in the end, I don't think Nate was ready so we abandoned potty training for the moment.  We will come back to it in a few weeks, this time with a clear plan, a concrete reward system, a stated expectations.

The week was not a total loss.  I got to spend a week at home with my kid playing trains, playing with the hose and water table, and taking walks around our neighborhood.  I also got to not be at work which is certainly a plus in my book. 

If you want a take a look at Nate's potty training style, check it out here.

Peanut Butter

When I found all natural peanut butter for $0.89 a jar at Amelia's I actually did a little happy dance in the aisle.  I am sure the other shoppers thought I was nuts (no pun intended) but I could have cared less.  Natural peanut butter is expensive and we go through a lot of it.

Although I love just about everything about natural peanut butter the one thing I don't like is how it separates and needs to be stirred.  There just doesn't seem to be a good way to mix up peanut butter. 
My first inclination is to just stick a fork in the jar and mix it up, but I have tried this method 1,000 times and failed.  I know there is a contraption you can buy the stir the peanut butter in the jar, but who wants to spend money on somthing like this:

What I have found works best, even if it does create more dishes is my hand mixer.  Scrap all the unmixed peanut butter into a bowl, cream it together with the hand mixer and then scrape the mixed peanut butter back into the jar.  It is fast, easy, free (since I own the hand mixer already, and the peanut butter doesn't seem to separate again as quickly as if mixed by hand.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I hear this slogan all the time, I have used it from time to time myself.  The problem is that although I am really good at the "recycle" part, and pretty good with the "reduce" part, I am not really all that good with the "Reuse" part.  I mean, I buy products that I can reuse, like microfiber cloths, cloth pads, sandwich wraps, etc.  but I know there are people who take things like milk jugs and turn them into cat litter scoops, etc.  Think Tightwad Gazette kind of reusing, that is something I aspire too.

With that in mind, I was pretty pleased with myself when I thought of this.

Although I still carry a fully diaper bag most of the time, I still keep a few essentials in my purse like wipes and crayons.  Until today the crayons were just floating around on the bottom of my purse hard to get to and marking everything else up.

Nate loves, mini M &Ms on his ice cream, so I usually have them in the house.  Mini M &Ms come in these cute little tubes:

I used the last of the M &Ms tonight on dessert and had a tube leftover.  It occurred to me that it was slightly longer then a crayon, and would be the perfect container to keep my purse crayons in.  So, I peeled the label off, put the crayons inside, and wrote on it with a sharpie so that anyone looking for crayons in my purse would be abel to find them.  It is not very elegant, but it is fully functional and I got to "reuse" something.  A win/win in my book.

It holds about 7 crayons

My New Toy

It is the Dyson DC Animal Ball-Technology Upright Vacuum and I love it.  Until about four months ago I had the original Dyson DC17 Animal vacuum, but it was having problems.  I took it to Sears to be serviced only to discover that I had really killed it, it needed a new motor and a new cyclone thing, and a new everything else... the price tag?  $400 plus.  I said no thank you since we didn't spend $400 on that vacuum in the first place.  Killing it is completely my fault... I think I went 1.5 years before I cleaned out a filter... that couldn't have helped! 

I wasn't necessarily keen to get another Dyson since the first one didn't even last 5 years, but after doing some research on the best "Pet" vacuum which showed that Dyson was continually rated the best, we decided to go for it.  We got the Ball version which really is way more maneuverable then your standard model.  The profile is so low I can now get under furniture without having to use an attachment.

This time around I am determined to make this vacuum last, so I will be treating it right and and performing some regular maintenance.

Tips for a Successful Yard Sale

I am, if I do say so myself, a yard sale veteran.  My mom and I have been having yard sales for as long as I can remember and they have always been successful.  The difference between a successful and an unsuccessful yard sale are huge, but the things you can do to ensure success are very simple!

1.  Advertise -- This can mean putting an ad in your local paper or it can mean putting signs up in your neighborhood.  Better yet, do both! 

2. Price Everything -- Whether it is with a sticker, a post it note, or a piece of masking tape, price everything!  If you have more than one person selling, add initials next to the price to make it easier to keep track of who is owed how much.

3.  Price Things to Sell -- This is a yard sale.  Keep that in mind.  I know that you paid a lot of money for these items back in the day, but now you are hocking them to strangers in your driveway.  Price them accordingly.

4.  Be Open to Offers -- Although it is not customary in this country to haggle over prices there is something about a yard sale that brings out a person's inner haggler.  Even if you have priced things to sell, people may offer you less.  Sure you want to make a little money with this endeavor, but yard sales are often more about cleaning out the money than fiscal gain.  If someone asks you if you will take less than what the item is priced ask yourself if you are will to bring it back into the house and store it again before you answer them.

5.  Have Change -- I don't know why people do it, but they do, they will offer you a $20 bill for a $0.25 item.  have change available... it just makes everyone happy.

6.  Tables, Tables, Tables -- People don't like to bend down to look at stuff.  Put things on tables.  Also, so some reason, people don't like to look through racks of clothes, so don't hang (if possible) fold and put on tables.

7.  Have a Partner -- This might be the most important one.  You can go at it alone, but then there is no one to spot you when you need a potty break or a fresh cup of coffee.

8.  Keep Yard Sale Hours -- I crack up when I see yard sale signs that say they will start at 10:00.  Die hard yard salers are out early... take advantage of that.  Sometimes they are so eager to get a look at what you have they will even help you set up... no kidding.

9.  Offer People Bags -- Everyone, no matter how many reusable bags you own, has a lot of plastic shopping bags in their house.  Here is the perfect opportunity to unload them. 

10.  Have a Plan for After -- What are you going to do if things don;t sell?  Have some idea of what you are going to do with things that are left over.  Will you box them up and store them?  Will you donate them to Goodwill?  To some other organization?

Pickles

I will be making these tomorrow, probably during nap time.  This is my first foray into pickled food, so we'll see how it goes.  I will post a more extensive entry with pictures tomorrow, but for the moment I decided to share the recipe I am going to use.  I found it on Cookography and it is for Refrigerator Pickles...

Dill Refrigerator Pickles (From Cookography, 2007)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lbs Kirby cucumbers (sometimes labeled pickling cukes), cut in half lengthwise
• 2 cups white distilled vinegar
• 2 cups cold water
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 good handful of fresh dill (maybe a cup?)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes or a dried red hot pepper (optional)
• 1 tsp black peppercorns

Directions:

1. Place all the seasonings in the bottom of a 2 or 3 quart jar. Add the cucumber halves, stacking as you go. The basic thing to try and arrange them so they don’t float around too much.
2. Measure out the vinegar, water and salt in a separate container and stir until the salt dissolves.
3. Pour the liquid into the jar containing the cucumbers. Make sure the liquid covers all of the cucumbers. Mix up another batch if necessary.
4. Seal the lid tightly and shake for about a minute. Now find a good home for the jar in your ‘fridge
5. Wait for 6 or 7 days, giving the jar a good shake each day.

Things I am Loving Right Now

Stash's Peach Flavored Black Tea... Yum

This Silicone Watch (it just screams COOL to me)

Ore Ida Sweet Potato Fries (Junk food I can feel less guilty about)

Crimina Minds (How did I not know about this show???)

Left Over Easter Candy :)

Update on Updated To Do List

I actually made some progress on my previously posted To Do list.... YEAH!

1.  IRON (for the love of God IRON)
2.  Make tooth fairy pillow for Nate
3.  Make Ice Cream
4.  Make pickles 

In addition I accomplished a few other things, like making some whole wheat pizza dough to keep in the freezer.  The pickles I think I am going to tackle tomorrow.

Updated To Do List

1.  IRON (for the love of God IRON)
2.  Make tooth fairy pillow for Nate

3.  Make Ice Cream
4.  Make pickles

Tasty (Low Fat) Pork Chops

ARRRRG!  I posted this yesterday but blogger somehow erased it... here we go again.

The other morning I pulled out some boneless pork chops to thaw for dinner.  By the time I got around to actually making dinner I only had about 25 minutes to spare.  That was hardly enough time to marinade the pork.  Also, I was looking for a cooking method that I could walk away from for a little bit which meant that grilling or frying was out.  So, I decided to bread the pork and bake it.  Instead of your traditional breading method with flour and eggs and bread crumbs, I decided to slather the pork in Dijon mustard and then press it into bread crumbs.  I baked them for about 20 minutes on 375 (in my convection toaster oven so times may vary).  They were fantastic.  The coating was certainly not crunchy, but it was very tasty imparting an awful lot of flavor.  Best of all, this method added no additional fat and used up two pantry items!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes

So I made the Mexican chocolate cupcakes last night and hoo-boy! are they good.

I changed the recipe a little bit and I like the results so I am going to re-post it with my changes:

1 pkg. Chocolate Cake Mix
2 tsp ground cinnamon, separated
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Can of  Chocolate Frosting


Preparation Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare cake mix as directed.
2. Add 1 tsp of cinnamon and all of the cayenne pepper to the cake batter and mix well.
3. Spoon cake batter into prepared cupcake liners and pan. Fill cupcake tins no more than 2/3full.
4. Bake cupcakes as directed and cool completely.
5.Frost cupcakes and sprinkle with the left over cinnamon.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

Although, as I understand it, Cinco de Mayo is not actually a big deal in Mexico, I like to look for any excuse to have themed meals, so here are two Mexican themes recipes.  The first one I have made many times and it is very yummy.  The second I will be making tonight.  Enjoy!

Spicy Polenta Tamale Pie

24 oz. Pre Packaged Cooked Polenta (comes in a plastic roll)
1 (15 oz.) Can Black Beans, rinsed and drained
1 (10 oz.) Can Enchilada Sauce (mild, medium, or hot)
1 (11 oz.) Can Whole Kernel Corn, drained
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley
1 Cup Cheddar Cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray an 8X8 dish with nonstick cooking spray. Cut polenta into small cubes. Mix all ingredients together in a medium sized bowl and pour into prepared dish. Bake uncovered for 30-35 minutes. 

It is a very easy vegetarian meal.



Mexican Chocolate Cupcakes
1 pkg. Chocolate Cake Mix
2 tsp ground cinnamon, separated
1/4 tsp plus 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 Can of  hocolate Frosting


Preparation Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare cake mix as directed.
2. Add 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper to the cake batter and mix well.
3. Spoon cake batter into prepared cupcake liners and pan. Fill cupcake tins no more than 2/3full.
4. Bake cupcakes as directed and cool completely.
5. Prepare frosting by adding 1 tsp of cinnamon and 1/8 tsp of cayenne pepper to each can of frosting that you use. Mix completely and frost cupcakes.

To Do List....

For this week, there are a couple of things I have been procrastinating on that need to get done.

1.  Take laundry out of the dryer and fold
2.  Put away Laundry
3.  Clean out Closet in Family Room
4.  IRON
5.  Make Tooth Fairy Pillow (not that Nate will be losing teeth any time soon, but still, I want to be prepared)

The Royal Wedding

I was 4 and a half when Charles and Diana got married so I really don't remember much of the hoopla surrounding their wedding, and until recently I wasn't very interested in the comings and goings of Wills and Kate.  But then, after talking to some colleagues who are complete Anglophiles, I allowed myself to get swept up in the royal wedding fervor. 

I was not up at 4:00am, I can say that, but when Nate came into my room at 5:45 I flipped on the TV in time to see Charles and Camilla enter the Abbey.  I had to concede the TV to Nate at this time, but he soon lost interest in Toy Story 3 (I don.t understand why... he's only see it 1,000,000,000,001 times in the last 3 weeks) and I was able to watch again.

I saw the ceremony, the recessional, the carriage ride, and then one of the two kisses on the balcony.  I loved Kate's dress, but thought her flowers should have been a little bit bigger.  My husband says I am lame.  I don't really care, it is fun.

When I got to work there was a full blown wedding party underway in the staff lounge with a TV showing the wedding coverage, tea sandwiches, tea breads, and even royal wedding tea.

More Etsy Fun -- The Royal Wedding Edition

A fun collection of British themed goodies from Etsy that I have titled "Cool Britannia."

Nate's Easter Basket

I am really proud of the Easter Basket I created for Nate this year for a number of reasons.  One, he loved everything in it.  Two, I did not spend a ton of money, so it was a pretty frugal endeavor, and Three, there was no candy in it for me to eat!

The Contents:

• The basket and the "grass" are ours reused every year
• Just Go to Bed by Mercer Mayer ($3.99)
• A Toy Story jump rope ($1.00)
• Side walk chalk ($4 on end of season clearance)
• Non-Spill Bubble Cup with bubbles ($2.49 end of season clearance)
• Kaleidoscope ($.62 on clearance)
• Fisher Price Wheelies Train ($1.00)
• Easter Thomas with Jelly Bean Car ($9.95)
• Plastic Chicken Eggs (2 for $1.00)
• Assorted mini trains and trucks (6 @ $.39 each)

 Grand total: $26.21

Not too bad.  The jump rope I found at Goodwill new in the package.  The bubble cup, bubbles, and side walk chalk were all end of season clearance last year.  I did splurge on the Easter Thomas but Nate is crazy for all things Thomas.    

Happy Easter!

Love Your Mother

Mother Earth that is.  In celebration of Earth Day I thought I would share some of the easy ways to help the Earth and consume less.

1.  Cloth, cloth cloth.  This applies to napkins and towels mostly.  That was how we started.  I extended it to diaper as well until we had some diaper rash issues that would not be controlled in cloth.  In addition, I use cloth rounds in place of cotton balls for taking up make up.  Also, I replaced disposable tampons and pads with cloth pads.

2.  Travel Mugs and Reusable Water Bottles.  Not only will you save the Earth with this one, but you will always have a beverage with you when you get thirsty and you will save money too,

3.  Reusable bags.  These can be found anywhere from Target to the grocery store.  There are super cute ones on Etsy or you could make your own.  Not to mention that they are plentiful at Goodwill and the Salvation Army.  I will fully admit that I am not so good about remembering to bring these into the super market with me.  But I keep one or two Baggu bags in my purse at all times that way I can use them when I run to the drug store or the Wawa.

4.  Buy Earth friendly cleaning products... or make your own.  I am a huge fame of both Method and Seventh Generation cleaning products.  I also like Simple Green.  I have tried using vinegar and baking soda and making my own cleaning products and I am not been satisfied with the results.

5.  Recycle as Much as Possible.  Whether this means reusing the jars that baby food or tomato sauce come in, or putting as much as possible into the recycling bin, do it.

There are, of course, other ways to help the Earth.  Drive less, plant more things, get a rain barrel, time your showers, compost, etc.  But the 5 easy changes listed above can get you moving in the right direction easily and painlessly.

A Day in the Life of Me -- Work Day Edition

4:28 -- Wake up from Horrible Dream, go back to sleep

5:35 -- Nate wakes me up and asks if he can come into my room.  He gets in bed with me and watchs Toy Story 3 while I eek out another 45 minutes of sleep

6:20 -- Alarm goes off.  Get up, shower, brush teeth.

6:40 -- Start to get dressed, do make up, do hair

6:55 -- Get Nate dressed.  His diaper has leaked and now there is a big pee spot all over my bed.  Strip bed including mattress pad.

7:00 -- Gather up supplies to be taken to my mom's house

7:05 -- Go down to kitchen and start getting everyone breakfast.  The night before I always fill a sippy cup with milk and put it in the fridge so Nate can get it himself in the morning.  Get nate settled at the table with his raisins.  Feed the dogs, give the dogs fresh water, give the dogs their celery, let the dogs out.  Put my breakfast (leftover muffins) in the toaster oven turn on the water for tea.

7:10 -- Let the dogs in.  Start making Nate's waffle.

7:15 -- Turn off the TV, try reasoning with Nate about sitting and eating breakfast while trying to eat my own breakfast.  Neither of these things works, so he get s a time out.

7:20 -- Nate is back at the table eating his waffle.  I finish my breakfast, clean up, make my tea in a travel mug, put away dry dishes, toad up the bags and take them out to the car, change Nate's shirt, put on his shoes and socks.

7:40 -- Lock up the house, give the dogs a treat and get in the car.

8:00 -- Drop Nate off at my mom's house

8:20 -- Leave my mom's house and head to work

8:30 - 5:30 -- Work

5:30 -- Go pick up Nate

6:00 -- Head home

6:30 -- Unload the car, unpack all the bags and start the bed time process: bath, PJs, books

7:30 -- Nate is in bed

7:35 -- Start dinner for me -- Chicken Tikka Masala, Basmati Rice, Peas, and Samosas

8:00 -- Settle in to eat dinner and watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1.

11:00 -- Bed.

Happy Birthday Hubby!

May the Force be with You!

Junior Mint Brownies

My friend Meredith is in the states this week and we were able to catch up over dinner the other night.  it was not a fancy affair.  I made a baked ziti, a Caesar salad and junior mint brownies for dessert. 

The ziti is pretty self explanatory, so is the Caesar salad really, but I wanted to share the junior mint brownie recipe because it is so good.  It originally came from Cooking Light so it is a relatively guiltless treat is eaten in moderation.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter or stick margarine
• 32 (about 3 ounces) creamy, small-size mints in pure chocolate (such as Junior Mints)
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white

Preperation

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Coat bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking spray.
• Combine butter and mints in a 2-cup glass measure; microwave at high 30 seconds or until soft. Stir until smooth, and set aside.
• Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, and level with a knife. 
• Combine flour, soda, and salt in a bowl. 
• Combine sugar, cocoa, egg, and egg white in a large bowl; beat at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended. Add mint mixture; beat well. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until blended. 
• Pour batter into prepared pan. 
• Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean; cool completely on a wire rack.

Yum!

The ABCs of Me

I found this over at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven and thought it would be fun.

Age: 34

Bed Size: Queen

Chore You Hate: Dusting... it seems so futile

Dogs: A black lab and a chocolate lab mix

Essential Start of Your Day: A Hot Beverage, usually green tea

Favorite Color: Red

Gold or Silver: Silver, white gold or platinum

Height: 5'3" (on a good day)

Instruments You Play: Flute and piccilo (although it has been years since I picked up either)

Job Title: Librarian

Kids: Nate, 3 years old

Live: on planet Earth (most of the time)

Mom's Name: Mom (sorry not giving out that Privileged information)

Nicknames: Never really had one other than "moll" but I don't think that counts

Overnight Hospital Stays: I had my tonsils out when I was in second grade and my C-section

Pet Peeve: People with an over-inflated sense of entitlement

Quote From a Movie: "It's a hell of a day at sea sir!" (Overboard)

Right- or Left-Handed: Right

Siblings: zero (and I loved every minute of  being an only child)

Time You Wake Up: too early... usually 5:30 when Nate gets up

Underwear: yes, I generally wear underwear

Veggie You Dislike: Radishs

What Makes You Run Late: A toddler with his own ideas and plans

X-Rays You Have Had: Dental, Ultra Sounds, chest, ankle, foot

Yummy Food You Make: Roasted chicken, chocolate Guiness cake, cinnamon chip scones.

Zoo Animal You Like Best: The Otters

A Treasury of Rabbits

I am distracting myself from work today be making Treasury Lists on Etsy.com.  Here is one entitled "Something for Everybunny"

Irish Soda Bread

I finally found a great recipe for Irish Soda Bread, here it is:



4 1/2 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
2 1/2 cups Gold Medal® all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1cup raisins (or currants)
1Tablespoon of Caraway seeds if desired
1 cup buttermilk

1.  Mix all of dry ingredients together, including the raisins.

2.  Add the buttermilk and stir to combine. 

3.  Lightly shape dough into a ball and place on greased baking sheet (or on a silpat lined baking sheet)

4.  Cut an X into he top of the dough ball

5.  If desired, brush with milk or a beated egg.

6.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35- 45 minutes

Cake Pops

Cake pops, a la Bakerella, are all the rage... hell, Starbucks even has them now.  So I thought I would try my hand at them for Goodie Day at work this week.  The recipe is simple enough:

1 cake (Made from a box, baked, and cooled)
1 Can frosting
Chocolate or a candy coating like CandiQuick for the outside
Sticks
Decorations like colored sugar, etc.

The steps to assembling the cake balls are pretty easy to.

1.  Crumble up the cooled cake.
2.  Mix in the icing until the cake and icing are the consistence of cookie dough

3.  Make little balls of the cake/icing mix with your hands.  Or, if you are like me, with a cookie scoop.
4.  Chill the balls
5.  Insert the sticks
6.  Coat in Chocolate or the CandiQuick
7.  Decorate

I am going to call this a semi success.  The first mistake I made was making the balls too big.  I used the larger of my two cookie scoops, I should have used the smaller one.  I also went wrong by putting the balls in the refrigerator.  They kept falling off the sticks and falling apart as I was trying to coat them.  Next time I will freeze them.  I didn't buy enough of the coating.  I have never actually used a "candy coating" before. I have always just melted chocolate, but I needed something that would harden pretty fast so I opted for the Vanilla CandiQuick.  I didn't have enough to cover all the balls, only about half.  I had to throw the other half away :(

Yes, I know I could have frozen them for use later, but there is no room in my freezer at the moment.

Here they are waiting to be eaten at work:

 
They were a semi success, because people are actually eating them.  Will I be making them again?  I don't think so.  First of all, they were a lot of work and pretty messy.  Second, I am not that thrilled with how they tasted.  I would have been a lot happier if I had just made a regular cake with icing.

Help Please -- Missing Child -- Sadly this is all too real

I work with Tom.  His 16 year old daughter is missing.  If you are in the Philadelphia Area and you see her, please, please, please call the police.

To my blogger friends, please post this on your blogs and help bring Anna home.  Thanks!

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.