Saturday, January 23, 2010

National Pie Day


Today is National Pie Day, so bust out those aprons and rolling pins.


Ben has requested Pumpkin Pie to celebrate. (This is a pick of some Black Bottom Pecan Pie I made a while ago)


It is another gray wet day in Browns Pt. so it is the perfect day to bake.


Happy Baking Everyone!!


:0)

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Will Work for Food


I am very blessed to be surrounded by talented boys who like to work for food. Most "honeydo" lists are written for the hubbies. Not mine. Anyone willing to toil on my random projects will be paid in spades with any kind of baked good their little hearts desire. So far this system has worked out very well.


I recently had a friend help Joj hang my new headboard and install some old windows (pics coming as soon as I finish painting them) and as a thank you I whipped up some banana bread. I have paid him in the past with Banana Cream Pie, but I didn't have everything on hand, so he got banana bread instead. Now I am NOT a fan of banana bread. I will politely eat a piece if offered, but it is not my fave, so finding a good recipe relies on the feedback of others. I recently found a recipe at http://www.allrecipes.com/ and tweaked it a bit and I think I have come up with a winner. The folks who have tasted it, give it very high marks and I must say the batter is pretty tasty. I have made 3 loaves in the past 2 days. It bakes up nice and fluffy and I hear it goes great with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.

So the next time you need to bake up a thank you, consider a loaf of this super easy and very yummy banana bread.

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Big Daddy's Banana Bread

1/2 C soften butter

1 C sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

3 med or 2 large bananas mashed (I like my bananas not completely brown)

1 tsp baking soda

2 C flour


Cream the butter and sugar

Add eggs and vanilla

Add mashed bananas and mix until well combined

Add flour and soda and mix until just combined

Pour into a greased loaf pan (I use the wrapper from the butter ~ it works great)

Bake for 50-60 min at 350. I usually check at 50 with the toothpick test

Let cool for 10 mins, remove from pan and cool on wire rack.


Enjoy!!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Peanut Butter Thumbprints


I bake a lot of cookies. I like cookies because they are easy. They offer up a lot of "wow" for very little work. I have to admit, that I feel very "June Cleaver" when I whip up a batch of cookies. I especially like when I have everything I need in the pantry.
Today I made Peanut Butter Thumbprints (They are also sometimes called Peanut Butter Blossoms) Sooo easy. Sooo yummy. The best part is it only has 4 ingredients and these are about as "beginner" as they come, perfect for cooking with the kiddos.

Peanut Butter Thumbprints
1 14oz can Sweetened Condensed Milk
2 C Bisquick
3/4 C Peanut Butter (I've used both chunky and smooth)
36 chocolate "melties"

Mix the first 3 ingredients until well blended.
Use a T scoop and roll ball in white sugar (this is optional)
Place on a cookie sheet and bake 10 min @ 350 degrees.
As soon as you have taken them out of the oven, press the meltie into the cookie. It will flatten the cookie, it is supposed to do that.
Let them cool and enjoy them with a nice glass of cold milk.

If you don't have chocolate melties, you can use Hershey kisses or even melted chocolate chips (just use the back of a spoon to flatten the cookie) Enjoy!!

Monday, January 18, 2010

MLK


When I was teaching, one of my favorite units to teach was on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Even though most of it went over the heads of my Kinders (the thought of kids going to different schools based on what color there skin was simply didn't compute to them ~ a testiment to the work he did) it never failed to amaze me at how much he changed our country. There was a poll a few years ago about who the greatest American was. Dr. Marthin Luther King Jr. would have gotten my vote. In a time of termoil and conflict, we could all use a little refresher course in his teachings. As most of us enjoy the day off, take a little time to reflect on the great man being honored today.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Mrs. Wishy Washy


I have been without a washer for the past two weeks. It has been awful, although it could have been worse (at least it broke AFTER I had done my washing for the week) Thankfully my mom lives around the corner so I could take loads over there to do, but still it was a kind of a drag. However, now all is right with the world and my washer is up and running. As I type I am listening to the sweet sound of wishy, washy, wishy washy. Joj has taken the kids to his mom's for dinner and now I'm left to catch up on all the laundry, but I have to say I'm kind of looking forward to the house smelling like Downy again.
Happy Humpday
:0)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Entre Nous

Have you stopped by the Nester today? She is having a giveaway, that is very fun. She is partnering with Danielson Design for a custom designed sign. There are a ton of different styles to choose from and the best part you get to design it yourself. Here is the one I would get if I win.



When we were in HS, Joj wrote me a "love letter". He basically printed (on his dot matrix printer) the lyrics to the Rush tune Entre Nous. Oh, so very Joj.
So bop on over to the Nesting Place and have fun creating your own sign.
:0)

Monday, January 11, 2010

J'dore My Door

I'm back. I enjoyed my time of lameness, but now I'm hoping to get back on track with this blogging thing. We'll see how it goes :0)


For the longest time I have wanted a new headboard. The one we had didn't fit the bed frame so it was just kind of leaned up against the wall and even the slightest movement would result in a loud bang (not very restful) So I began my search for a new headboard. I wasn't sure if I wanted a wooden one, or a metal one, a fancy on or a plain one. I did know that I wanted a cheap one.

I finally realized that what I really wanted was a headboard made out of an old door. You see them everywhere and I love how simple they are. I made my way up to the Re-Store in Ballard and found EXACTLY what I was looking for. Seriously, how often does that happen? I wanted a five panel door that wasn't too wide. Boom, there it was (if I didn't know better I would have sworn it was back lit and I could hear angels singing) Best part, 20 bucks and she was mine.

Here is what she looked like in her "before" stage. I probably could have done more to her, but I'm lazy. I just hit it with a palm sander and slapped a couple coats of paint.


Once she was all painted Joj and Jim attached a french cleat to the back (I am now an official fan of french cleats, those babies are great) and hung it on my wall.
I LOVE it.
It has that clean line cottage feel to it and it is very "me"
It was definitely 20 bucks well spent.
I'm linking this up to A Soft Place to Land's DIY Day
DIY Day @ ASPTL

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