Let's go Dutch Baby

I can't believe I haven't made one of these in over a year. I remedied that and made them twice in one week. Had to make a few this morning to share with my dad who came out to watch the kids play softball/baseball this weekend. He had never had one and he gobbled it right up, which puts a huge smile on my face cause my dad tends to lean on the picky side of things.  YAY ME!!

I can't decide what I enjoy more, the taste or the show??? It's hard to resist peeking in the oven to

watch these things puff up in crazy formations, but if I really had to pick it's most definitely the taste..

I top them with the traditional lemon squeeze and powdered sugar...Simply yummy

If you haven't tried one yet..you must! The whole experience is simply

marvelous...

And if you need a pretty decent recipe this is the one that I used..

                                                                     Dutch Baby

Monkeying around

Just had to make up a little monkey hat to throw in my photo prop stash. And of course  had to try it out on a few monkeys of my own. One was pretty OK with it, the other....not so much....You know me though. I will take what I can get.

As for pattern I just basically worked up a hat with ear flaps and added some circles to the sides but if you want a pattern more concrete then that there is this one.....Easy Monkey Hat

And this one, not quite pattern but a little more tutorial ....DIY monkey hat


Now who can get their monkey to wear it the longest????

Craving Chocolate?

I made these....

                                                             Saucepan Fudge Drops

                                                             1 cup all-purpose flour

                                                            1/4 teaspoon baking soda

                                                                1/8 teaspoon salt

                                                         5 tablespoons unsalted butter

                                                  1/3 cup  unsweetened cocoa powder

                                                          1/2 cup granulated sugar

                                              1/3 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed

                                                       1/3 cup buttermilk or yogurt

                                                         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Preheat oven to 350 F and place racks in the upper and lower
thirds of the oven.  Line two large baking sheets with parchment
paper.

Whisk flour, baking soda and salt together in a small bowl, and
set aside.  Place the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat and melt. 
Once the butter is melted and sizzling, remove from heat and whisk in cocoa
until smooth.  Add both sugars and stir until blended - the mixture will be
stiff and sandy at this point. Stir in yogurt or buttermilk and vanilla.  Add the dry
ingredients and stir gently until just combined. Scoop rounded tablespoons of
dough onto prepared baking sheets, about 1 1/2 inches apart.

Bake the
cookies until they look dry on top and are cracked all over, but are still
slightly soft when pressed, about 10-12 minutes. Rotate baking sheets from top
to bottom and front to back about half way through to ensure even baking.  Slide
the parchment, cookies and all onto racks to cool.

Via

Sharemykitchen

Apparently from this  

Book

That I must get my hands on.

Seriously quick to make and the texture is insane.

Crunchy on the outside and chewy in the middle.

Not something you get often with thin cookies like this.

Only problem is they are all gone now.

The kids loved them too...

The whole darn rainbow....

Yep the whole nine yards today. And I claim these the coolest cookies ever, at least that I have made anyways..

Me and the kids had a blast being creative with these.

I made them and some chocolate covered pretzels for a bake sale tomorrow.

Figured I would go the route of "eye catcher" . Gotta have something at that table that

gets you looking at all the yummy goodness.. 

Job well done right?? I mean who can pass these up??

The kids have already started begging me to make more.

I even attempted and failed to save a few for the hubby.

Shay kept asking me for more and when I said there was none he knew just

where I hid the few extra for dad.

And of course he told me I could just make more. Dangit, hate when the little people

out smart me...

I think next time I will let the kids have full reign of the creativity and see

what comes of it.

Because no matter what, these things hit the spot!!!

If you want to bake some fun...

I found the recipe

                                                                           Here

buzzing along.....

I have been busy making and baking, with every intention to share here but with the added effort of keeping the closest eye on my teens I haven't been online much this week.

Not to mention the few times I have been online trying to comment on others blog posts my stupid Internet browser isn't letting me and I don't have the patience to figure it out so I get frustrated and sign off.

We are currently on Spring Break in this household and of course it falls right on Scott's rotation part of the month so it's just me and the kids hanging out with the occasional night visit from the Soldier.

I have hid the cable box and only allowed small amounts of time online for both the kids and I and wouldn't you know things are going pretty good.

The house is staying cleaner then normal and we have been very active with several visits to the park and even a few hours at the pool today...

We've  made

Pizza

And

Pretzel bites

Among other things, like waffles, cheesecake and

sugar donut muffins yum...

Of course I have been making crafty things too...

These hats for a friends little one..

And slowly working on this little cable hat for Sophie, just cause I thought it was cute of course..

Sometimes to regain a little order you have to slow it down and get back to basics..

Taking that extra bit of time to remember how blessed you are and how fast time will fly by when you are to busy whining about the little things...

With that said, I'm sending up a big prayer for Japan and those affected by the quake.

As a California native I know earthquakes well, but I could never imagine having to deal with such widespread damage and chaos.

Just kind of kicks you in the face, that tomorrow isn't guaranteed so soak up every minute..



Hungry.....

Now that I am slowly getting my appetite back after this horrible week of sickness. I am having all sorts of cravings for home baked goods. And when that happens I always find myself  popping over to 

Smitten Kitchen

 to see what I can find....Something quick and yummy but still a little healthy

I found these 3 pears laying around and wouldn't you know she has a recipe for that..

Pear Bread

It was quick, it was easy, and I even baked them in my new mini loaf and bundt pans to speed up the process. And all I have to say is YUM..

You know you want some....

Cookies and Coasters

Due to the whole "trying to lose weight" thing. I have not been doing much baking lately. Of course I can only hold out for so long. So I made some toffee crackle cookies because they are too good to pass up.

Try them out......

Toffee Crackle Cookies

prep: 25 minutes Bake: 20 minutes per batch Oven: 300〫

1 Cup Butter, softened

1 Cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/4 cup AP flour

1 cup chocolate covered toffee pieces

granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 300〫. In a large bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 minutes. Add brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Using a wooden spoon, stir in any remaining flour. Stir in toffee pieces.

Shape dough into 1 1/4" balls. Place 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Dip bottom of a glass into granulated sugar and flatten each ball to about 1/4" thickness.

Bake about 20 minutes or until edges are firm but not brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

 

 

 

 

So clearly as a distraction to keep my hands busy so that I did not eat them all before the kids came home from school I decided to crochet up some more coasters.

I love this pattern I found awhile back on ravelry.

Shell Coasters

This is my second time making them and no doubt will not be my last.

Really is a sweet pattern..

 

I have a new stash of cotton itching to be used so I am off to make a potholder or two.

Hope you are having a lovely day!!!

Yum for the tum tum...

Don't you just love it when you have an idea or desire and you voice it to others in random chatting. Only to hear a few weeks or so later they suddenly have the same idea. I am sure it probably not a conscious thing most of the time but that can drive me crazy. Especially when it's your own mother doing it. ha ha..

So the other day I was talking to her on the phone and she brought up how she wanted to make a pumpkin roll and it looked so good etc. Well I of course had brought this to her attention around Thanksgiving and wanted to make it for our Christmas Eve dinner but never got the chance.

After talking with her about it I had to bake one up and fast, can't have mom beat me to it.Thank goodness for those extra cans of pumpkin laying around the pantry. This was super quick and easy to make and not to mention insanely yummy....

Alexis said it looked weird and kept asking what it was, then after I told her she begged for a piece. Which was fine by me because we all know by this time what that means. She's my photo prop, totally think it's a fair trade. She does too of course.

If you still need a bit more pumpkin in your life and want to bake one of these bad boys up, I used THIS recipe and it was perfect...I took the easy way out and used a few of those silicone baking sheets to bake it on and roll it in. No sticking and easy clean up works for me...

Always time for a hat...

I whipped up a couple Meathead hats recently for some fellow Army wives, children. And as with most gifted items I did not get photos of them. So I of course had to make one for Sophie to give me a reason to talk about it here. The hat is about as basic and quick as they come and I'm sure I am pretty close to one of the last people on the planet to make one. But I love it and I will definitely be making a ton more. I think this one took me all of 40 mins. Just a bit bummed that she has reached that stage of ripping hats off after a few quick snaps of the camera. Guess I need to start making something different for her.

                                                                        Raveled

I've been in a little bit of a funk lately, more worried about getting the house cleaned and organized and of course finding great deals on gifts for 5 children then crafting and taking photos. I know it comes with the territory of the Holidays but if anything it just proves to me how much those things mean to me and how healing they are for me too. Normally I would be completely freaking out about how fast time is going but this year I am certainly embracing it. I know as soon as it's over I can get back to being me and there will be new toys/activities and such in the house to keep the kids busy which buys me a bit more "me" time. Which of course means more blog time.

Back to crazy town. for now, have a wonderful weekend.

My Creative Space

A gift in progress...

I've decided to make a Dottie Angel blanket.

Or as she calls it...'ordinarily extraordinary' blanket,for my sister. 

She just moved into a new place and I figure I should have no problem finishing

it by Christmas so a housewarming/Christmas gift combo.

And since I can pretty much break up the progress by squares, trying to do 2 a day.

It has become my Sophie is napping project..

So far I am enjoying the simplicity of it, but every time I sit down all I can think about is the million other things I could be doing during her naps. Just keep reminding myself that's exactly how I would feel no matter what I was doing.

 This is where a more organized person would write up a to-do list.

But I apparently prefer to agonize over it all in my head.

Stay back, it's a mess in there...

Hope you are having a wonderful week..

Now off to more spaces you go...

Cheesecake Envy

The hubby came home with another cheesecake order the other day. One of the guys saw a picture of a cheesecake in a magazine, ripped it out and passed it along to Scott to ask if I could make it for him.

I was told he actually pondered making it himself and although Scott talked him out of it. Something (maybe a little evil) in me would LOVE to see him try. I mean, the poor guy had no clue what a spring form pan was. And what single soldier has a mixer handy? I guess I could be wrong but I can't help but chuckle just thinking about him trying to hand mix the whole thing. You can't tell me that wouldn't be just a little hilarious to watch.

So yeah I went ahead and made it for him, and wouldn't ya know Scott the lover of Cheesecake decided I had to make two, one for him of course.  Apparently since I had never made this particular cheesecake before he had to taste test it before handing it over. Uh huh...

So yesterday I made two Layered Turtle Cheesecakes 

(link has a picture of the real deal, I don't think I did to bad)

I often wonder if my hubby knows just how spoiled he is.

The Milo completed

Over the weekend my Dad and Sister came to visit so I tucked the crafts aside and enjoyed family time. But you can bet as soon as they were gone I whipped the Milo out and finished it ASAP. Nothing like a finished project to get your creative juices flowing again.



I really enjoyed knitting this little vest. Although the 13yr old reassured Shay it was ok if he didn't want to wear it because it looked a little "girly". (Thanks big bro)

I disagree, I think it is just perfect and a great addition to his cooler weather (whenever it decides to get here) wardrobe.

If you haven't made a Milo yet I highly recommend it...Great little pattern!

The sweetest things...

I am not sure if this is going to prove evidence of my evolving talent or my serious lack of a so called "life". Not that I am complaining, but I have churned out yet another article of clothing for the munchkin. Just a simple jumper from a $1 pattern I picked up awhile back.

    This too has a bit of growing room but still fits now. Of course minutes after I put it in on her she was sleeping, and my impatient self couldn't wait for her to wake up

.I don't think she was very happy with me about that from the look on her face.

But she was laying perfectly for a quick snap so I couldn't pass it up.

And as if that wasn't sweet enough, I got the cutest softie in the mail from Hien at With Luv Clementine

We were one of the lucky recipients of a giveaway she had awhile back and I somehow missed the email. Grateful that she persisted with another and sent it our way.

So so excited to get this cutie.

Thank you Hien, you are insanely talented

She will be loved  :)

No sleep for me

It's nearly 2 am,....Sophie is awake, oh and so is Shay. Which of course means I am too. I have no clue why they are awake and frankly I am exhausted from trying to get them to sleep so I give up..I mean the rest of the gang is out cold snoring away and I am about to rip my hair out. So I plopped a movie in for Shay and Sophie is on my lap as I zone out here on the web trying to keep my eyes open...I probably won't remember a darn thing that I come across so I thought I would share them here. It's just been one of those days, here's hoping it's over soon..




For the love of yarn these are adorable..Spool vases

function and play...Rugs

Love seats, so sweet..

Play Shapes So much better then your regular old blocks..

Ok, time to try this sleep thing again.....Adios for now

Dreamy Orange Cake

I found THIS recipe yesterday and since I happened to have a few oranges left that the kids hadn't devoured yet. I thought I would hurry and bake it up, along with some freshly made whipped cream..YUM.

This is a flour less cake so the orange flavor is pretty strong but I think it's perfect. It's one of those desserts that are good because you can only handle a little at a time. And the whip cream lightens the texture up just perfectly IMO. And as mentioned in the recipe post, letting is sit a bit makes this tastier.

Just another reason why I love food blogs, don't you??

Oh and how cute is the little dish? I got it at Crate and Barrel for a few bucks..

Cookie overload and a few faves from this week's MCS

Do you ever follow a recipe and not look at the serving size?

I usually pay attention because we are such a large household, always has to be enough to go around. But when doing a bit of midnight baking I payed absolutely no attention. It was cookies after all they usually yield a few dozen right?

Well if you make Reese's chewy chocolate cookies

your gonna get a whole lot more..

Like a little over 4 dozen to be accurate..

WOW!!

 Of course the kids are super excited for their after school snack today.

And Sophie was more then anxious to test them out first for everyone...

If you haven't already noticed I am a huge fan of Kirsty's My Creative Space and each week she links to her favorite from the previous week. Sometimes it's one I loved too or even more exciting one that I missed. I figured since the list is becoming amazingly long I would do the same and list a few of my faves for you to discover (if you haven't already). While I drool over them again abd chomp on a few cookies.

Totally completely smitten with this Unicorn

Love these pillows

The cutest little mouse around

Coffee Sack cushion covers, very cool.

And

Oh this ever so cool cubby house..Can I have one please?

I guess I should get back to my regularly scheduled program of cleaning up messes...

Have a wonderful day!