Butterscotch Pecan Cookies

Merry Christmas, friends! As usual, it has been too long since my last blog post. I blame Facebook! I was just doing some baking for Christmas, and thought I'd share this recipe here since I haven't posted in awhile, and it's not (to my knowledge) one of the more common cookie recipes out there. I found this in a Taste of Home magazine over a decade ago and it was an instant favorite. Here are the details:

1 pkg. Butter Recipe Cake Mix (18.25 oz.)
1 pkg. Butterscotch Pudding (3.4 oz., instant)
1/4 c. Flour
3/4 c. Vegetable Oil
1 Egg
1 c. Chopped Pecans

Combine the first five ingredients and mix well. Stir in pecans (dough will be crumbly). Shape by tablespoon of dough into a balls; place 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 2 minutes; remove from pan.

Yield: 4 dozen

There's still enough time for you to whip up a batch for Christmas, right? I made them this morning in about a hour, start to finish. I apologize for the cruddy iPhone picture - this whole blogging idea was kind of a last minute thought. But, a cruddy picture is better than no picture at all, right? Well, sometimes... :) That pic was taken after they came out of the oven, just as an fyi. They don't spread too much. I baked mine for 12 mins, and they got a little golden brown on the bottom but not so much on the tops.

Let me know if you try them, and have a Merry Christmas!!

My Fabulous Friend

I recently (well, semi-recently) attended a Copic Marker Class at the Creative Pals (Whipper Snapper Stamps!) store in Brookfield, WI. Technically, I believe it's now called an "Alcohol Marker Class", but same diff. ANYHOW, the bottom line is............. I stamped! After the class I came home and made this card for my girlfriend who invited and treated me to the class, bless her heart. I'm so out of the loop when it comes to blogging, I barely remembered to take a picture to share with y'all. I snapped this at the last minute on my mom's kitchen counter. How about that gold flecked counter top? Heh.

The image is by Rachelle Anne Miller. Love that girl. I wish I had an ounce of the talent she has.

I have more embroidery to share, and will be stamping again soon to complete the requirements for a swap I'm in, so stay tuned. One day I will organize all of my digital files and make this whole process easier.... maybe.

A Week of Flowers

Here is another set of towels I made recently for one of my girlfriends. She asked for a set for her birthday, because the ones my grandmother made for her wedding gift nearly fifteen years ago were starting to wear out. I let her look through all of my patterns and pick her favorite (thank you, face time!), and then got to work. I love, love, LOVE the way they turned out! I tried to keep the colors as close to natural as possible, but also muted and earthy. Here are a few pictures of the finished product... 

This set is sentimental to me, because while I was stitching, my grandmother (the same one mentioned above) underwent surgery to remove cancer from her lung. She was supposed to only be in the hospital a week or so and then home again and was expected to make a full recovery. Unfortunately, that's not quite the way things panned out. These towels made regular visits to the ICU with me as I sat at her bedside for six weeks, and were with me the day she went to heaven as well. It's just a little tiny part of her legacy that I am carrying on, and I know she's smiling down on me with every stitch I make. Grandma stopped embroidering years ago, but she was always amazed with how many different crafty things I took an interest in. I will forever have the memory of her smiling and shaking her head as she would tell friends and relatives about my latest project. She'd just laugh lightly and say, "she does all that kind of stuff!" Oh, how I miss that lady...

I also love that this set begins and ends with my and my girlfriend's favorite flowers. Hers is the rose, mine the purple iris. Just one more meaningful (and totally unplanned) aspect of the gift.

God bless,

You're Invited

Some of our friends are expecting their first baby in September, and I recently hosted a baby shower for the mom-to-be. It was small and casual, but I wanted to share a few of the things I did in case you need ideas for the future!

Taking my cue from the neutral colored lamb theme of the nursery, I made these baby shower invitations to send:

All things considered, it was a pretty simple design with minimal coloring, so they went together pretty quickly. Well, that is until I ran out of that brown ribbon. Whoops! I guess you really should measure everything before you get started, eh? No worries though. Lord knows I have enough other spools of coordinating ribbon that I could use as backups.

Here's the whole lot together. You can see that one at the front of the picture has a smaller gingham ribbon instead of the wide triple stitch brown (which I bought at Hobby Lobby yyyyears ago, and love, if anyone is curious... must get back for more...)

I held the shower in the afternoon from 2-4pm. Since it fell between meals, I didn't want to have a lot of food, but I did want to have a few snacks and, of course, a cake, too. Here's the simple tablescape and menu: smoked almonds, pretzels with horseradish dip, Cape Cod Cracked Pepper Potato Chips (have you tried them? I was just introduced in May and haven't bought any other brand or flavor since that day), crackers with a cream cheese/sweet red pepper spread, peanut butter M&M's (another personal favorite), and a german chocolate cake.

You can also see the two gifts on the table for the game winners. I contemplated buying gifts for this purpose, but in the end decided to pull from my overstocked and underused cabinet of Partylite candles. Each winner received a box of 6 votives in the "Zen" scent. It didn't even make a dent in my collection, which is pretty sad. A few weeks ago I finished burning a medium sized candle that we received as part of a wedding gift 12 years ago. This is how fast I go through candles. It doesn't stop me from buying more though! It's a sickness, I swear.

I printed up some easy nametags on mailing labels. Avery makes so many great sized labels. If you use your imagination you can do a lot of interesting things with them. I made these up using the Roselyn font, and then rolled across the bottom of each one with Mellow Moss ink to jazz them up a little.

Our first game was Name The Baby Food. We passed around ten open containers of baby food (stage 2, all having two more flavors), and guests were able to spoon a little onto their plate and taste each one. Some tasted, some smelled... In fact the girl who got the most correct (6/10) never tasted a single one. I was totally impressed. I printed sheets for each guest with ten blank spaces on the left and the names of about 20 different flavors of baby food on the right for them to match to the numbers. I pulled the names of the extra flavors off the Gerber website. I wanted to make sure they were all legitimate flavors, because we had enough moms of little ones in the room that someone would have probably known a fake name if I tried to make one up. I also made these cute little cozies for each container because the name of the flavor is printed on the outside. I needed to hide it somehow, and I'm all about pretty, so I wrapped each one with sage colored tulle and coordinating ribbon. The numbers were printed on my Cricut and then added to punched circles before being glued on to the side of the container.

Our second and final game was a simple guessing game. How many Almond Joy pieces fit into a 4 oz. Dr. Brown's glass baby bottle? Well, 167 to be exact. Mom-to-be got to keep the bottle (chosen from her registry) AND Almond Joy pieces as part of her gift.

It was a lovely afternoon with a lot of visiting and sharing of stories. I just love hosting things like this, and I also love welcoming new babies into the world! 

Peanut Butter S'more Bars

I have had this recipe in my recipe box for ages, clipped from an old (seriously, probably ten years ago) issue of Taste of Home magazine. If you aren't familiar with the magazine and do any amount of cooking, you should definitely look into it! It's an excellent resource filled every month with delicious mouth watering recipes to try. Or, in my case, clip and save for ten years and then try. Whichever.

The whole family enjoyed these bars (as well as a couple friends who live near by), but I'll be honest with you, they are are sweet. Like, almost too sweet (is that even possible?). I don't think I will make them again as a treat for the family because it's just too much sugar for us to eat in a week, but I'm sharing them here because they would make an awesome addition to any family reunion, potluck, or bake sale you might need an idea for. They were soooo quick and easy to whip together. A definite winner in that respect.

1 tube (16.5 oz.) refrigerated peanut butter cookie dough
3 1/2 c. miniature marshmallows
3/4 c. milk chocolate chips
2 t. shortening
1 1/2 c. milk chocolate M&M's

Let dough stand at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften. Press into bottom of ungreased 9x13" pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes or until lightly browned and edges are firm. Sprinkle with marshmallows; bake 2-3 minutes longer or until marshmallows are puffy.

In a small microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate chips and shortening; stir until smooth. Sprinkle M&M's over marshmallow layer; drizzle with melted chocolate. Chill until set before cutting, but serve at room temperature (they taste better that way).

I would also encourange you to cut them small, because as I said earlier they're a pretty sweet little treat. Better to come back for seconds than feel like you have to throw half of your bar away because it's too much sugar...

Let me know if you try it!

God Bless

Seeeeeeee... I *do* still stamp sometimes! I made this a few months ago, actually. I sing in a local choir and each spring I like to make a thank you card for our director that matches the theme of our annual concert. This year we had a sort of Americana theme, so I pulled out the old Stampin' Up! God Bless America stamp for the first time in ages (ever?). The flag behind the image is actually two different pieces of patterned paper, and then I accented the inside and the envie with the SU star wheel. Not bad for a (then) messy unorganized craft space!

I have since painted my craft room and am in the process of putting it all back together. Maybe I'll post a few pictures when it's done. It's nothing spectacular, but it's mine! I was just giggling the other day at all of the mismatched furniture I have in there, but oh well. It's functional, and a fairly large space, and right now that's all that matters. Maybe some day I'll invest in matching furniture with all the cubbies and cuteness you can stand, but it's not on my short list.

I'm also excited to share my new blog design! Wahooooooooooooooo! Michelle at Laycock Designs totally hooked me up with a beautiful new look. It was time for a change around here. If you're looking at this post in a reader, click over and take a peek and let me know what you think!

Grandma's Rhubarb Cake

Topping

1 1/4 c. Sugar

1/3 c. Flour

1/2 t. Cinnamon

1/2 t. Nutmeg

6 T. Butter or Oleo (softened)

1 c. Chopped Nuts

Combine all ingredients with a fork or pastry cutter, set aside.

Cake

2 c. Flour

1/2 c. Sugar

1 t. Baking Powder

1 t. Salt

2 T. Butter or Oleo (cold)

1 c. Milk

1 Egg

4 c. Fresh Rhubarb

1 pkg. (3 oz.) Raspberry or Strawberry Jell-o

Method

Grease 9x13" pan. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. Add milk and egg, mix well. Pour batter into pan. Spoon rhubarb evenly over batter. Sprinkle dry jell-o over rhubarb. Sprinkle topping on and bake 40-45 minutes at 375 degrees or until topping is light golden brown and rhubarb is bubbly. If fresh rhubarb is not available 2 cups (20 oz. pkg.) of frozen rhubarb thawed and drained can be used.

This cake is a family tradition for us. Grandma used to make it every year when the rhubarb was ready for picking. I just made it for the first time myself and it was so yummy. We enjoy it warm with vanilla ice cream. Let me know how you like it if you try it!

Missing You

Helloooooo! Long time, no crafting, eh?! I just thought I'd pop in and post this sweet little card I made for a small swap I participated in with some of my girlie-friends. The swap was for kid-cards, and I took my inspiration from a little girl I know who saw two of her besties move away within the last year or so.

I have more stuff (cards and embroidery and floral arranging of all things) to post as soon as I get my act together and get organized around here. I've been busy painting and organizing and my craft room is next in line for a make over. Maybe I'll share a few pics when I'm done. It's nothing special, but it's mine and I love it. Or I will once it's all clean and organized again!

Happy stamping!

Timmy the Goat

Does the little boy on the cover of this book look familiar to you? Depending on how long you've been reading my blog, you may recognize him as our son Henry. We lost Henry almost 18 months ago to a rare genetic disease that we didn't know existed until after his death. One of the many ways we are working to keep Henry's memory alive is by writing a series of children's books. The series is called "The Adventures of Henry", and this is the first book in the series: Timmy the Goat. The books are fully illustrated, and include teachable topics in the back to help engage your little ones and teach them about the different animals and terms in the book. The story itself is a bedtime story that Henry created with his Papa. They used to tell it every night before bed; it was one of his favorites.

The profits from the sale of this book are being donated to the Crohns and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA). Each book will benefit a different cause, as we try to help other families out there who are living with rare diseases in their children.

How can you help? Well, there are lots of ways. Here are a few thoughts:

1. Buy a book! The book costs $14.99 + S/H, and is available for sale at the Adventures of Henry website we have created for the series, or at Amazon.com. Don't have any little ones that you need gifts for? Consider buying a copy to donate to a local library or elementary school, OR, if you'd like, you can purchase a copy to be donated to a child who is currently admitted to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, and we will deliver it with a card noting your donation with or without your name attached - it's up to you if you want to remain anonymous.
   
2. Share this blog post with friends. Feel free to copy and paste all of my text onto your own blog post, or share the link on your Facebook page, or email any friends/family/co-workers who may be interested.
   
3. Join the Adventures of Henry group on Facebook, and suggest that your friends do the same if you are comfortable doing so. Anything, great or small, that helps us get the word out about our series and our story would be awesome. We'd love to see the books all over the country, and would love to make a huge impact at CCFA and other organizations that help children who are suffering from rare diseases.

This is a labor of love, and is benefitting a great cause in memory of one of the sweetest little boys. Henry's famous line was, "be good to the aminals!" He loved his animal friends at the zoo (we visited daily!), and was always looking out for their welfare. We're so proud to be able to honor him in this way, and hopefully help other families before they walk the road of bereavement we're walking now.

Thank you so much for your help, whether it's joining the Adventures of Henry Facebook group, a purchase for yourself or someone else, or a prayer for healing, it all means the world to us.

God bless,

GLEE Notecards

Do any of you watch the tv show GLEE? Do you love it? I like it. A lot. It's kind of a love/hate relationship for me though. I love the songs and the dancing, but the plot lines sometimes are just too far out there for me. I'm not sure how I feel about some of the things the teachers and students are saying to each other in school, etc., but it's fun to watch and they do have some hilarious quotes in the show.

One of my girlfriends recently had a "Glee" themed birthday party, and I wanted to get a gift that tied in with that theme. I searched Etsy for stuff, not sure what I was looking for exactly or what I would find. Turns out you don't find a whole lot on that topic. The only matches that came up were for notecards with quotes on them. I was *this close* to ordering some when it occurred to me that I, too, make cards.

*facepalm* Doh!

So, I whipped up a quick set of six for her. My original intent was to keep them all very simple, similar to the Lady and the Tramp card, but with different colored bases and ribbons. As I got started I decided to embellish a little more, but they still are pretty basic. I think I finished all six in about an hour and a half tops. I have been out of the loop for so long, I forgot to take nice pictures, but I did take some quick snapshots with my phone, so I'll share those:


I seriously have no idea who she would send these to other than another "Gleek", but I still think they're fun. And, it was fun to be stamping again, too. I joined a card swap recently, so it's a good little warm up for me before I have to get started on that next project.