Home Grown Summer and a recipe share

Hi there, everyone! 

Popping in today with a card I made for the current 

Crafter's Companion Challenge: Summer.

To me summer is all about sunshine and 

running through the sprinkler and gardening...

I made my card using one of the MANY, MANY inserts 

that come inside the Crafter's Companion Inspiration Magazine.

I wish I had a link to share with you all because it is truly fabulous!

Unfortunately the spring issue is completely sold out,

but I will definitely give you a heads up when the next issue comes out.

It's the perfect thing for making quick and easy cards,

plus it just has tons of inspiration and ideas.

I hope you like my card!

I also wanted to share a new recipe with you gals, if you don't mind.

I know I haven't done that in a while, but I've been finding

all these amazing new recipes on Pinterest,

and I thought you might be interested in seeing the ones I've tried out.

Let me know if this is something you'd like to see more of from me or not.

I honestly don't know if you guys would prefer me to keep this blog 

JUST for papercrafting, or f you don't mind me sharing my other 

crafty ventures, such as cooking, baking, painting pottery, etc.

So speak up and let me know! :)

Here's the one I tried out today:

Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole

Click on the title for the Pin and the recipe.

The only thing I did differently was add a little onion powder,

just because I cannot ever leave a recipe completely alone!

Gotta put my spin on it. ;)

Anyway, it was SUPER yummy. 

My husband couldn't stop saying how good it was,

 and my kids said I should make it EVERY DAY.

Yeah, not happening. 

But I will definitely be adding it to my Master Meal List --

I'm working on making a meal plan and shopping accordingly.

These three-to-four stops a week at the grocery store have got to end.

I'm getting it together!

Thanks so much for sticking with me this long.

Have a totally wonderful day!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Hello there!

Kind of a different post tonight.

If you follow me on Facebook, you know

that I love to cook, and I often post about it.

Tonight I had some requests to share my

recipe for Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta,

and my sweet friend Ashley suggested that

I post it here on my blog, so that people

can pin it to their Pinterest accounts if they like.

So, here it is:

I love the taste of Chicken Cordon Bleu, but let's face it,

that dish can be a lot of work to make.

I wanted to keep the traditional flavors of the dish

but simplify it for those nights when you need something

quick and simple, but tasty and filling.

Here's the other thing.

 I am totally flattered when people ask for 

my recipes, but sometimes it's a little hard to do, 

since I rarely cook with any measurements.

You don't need any for this.

It's as simple as can be!

Christy's Chicken Cordon Bleu Pasta

Ingredients:

1 package skinless boneless chicken strips or breasts (strips cook faster and chop easier)

1 package pasta (I like Farfalle, but any medium-sized pasta will do)

1 jar Alfredo sauce (sometimes I make my own, but jarred can be just as good)

6-8 slices deli ham

6-8 slices swiss cheese (I like Lorraine or Heidi Ann - the kind with tons of tiny holes)

salt and pepper 

Directions:

Get your pasta water going.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and saute chicken until just cooked through. (Season your chicken with salt and pepper before adding to the pan).

Remove cooked chicken to a cutting board and rough chop into bite-sized pieces.

Add pasta to boiling water.

Dice your ham and cheese slices. (I just stack them all up on top of each other and go to town. ;o)

Drain your cooked pasta.

Add Alfredo sauce to hot, empty pot.

Dump in pasta and all other ingredients.

Add salt and pepper.

Stir. 

Serve.

Didn't I tell you it was simple? :o)

If you make it, come back and tell me!

Play Date Cafe Challenge 66

Hello there!

Happy Monday, everyone.

Did you get a chance to see my first

how-to video that I posted on Friday?

If not, please scroll down to the previous

post and let me know what you think!

It's how to alter a mini composition notebook.

So as I enter this second year of papercrafting,

I decided it's time to start participating

in more challenges.

I came across one for the Play Date Cafe

in my blog travels this weekend,

and loved the colors so much,

I promptly made a card.

The Play Date Cafe Challenge 66

is to go black and white

with a color splash of lilac

(or any shade of purple).

Here's what I came up with.

I got out my new Lawn Fawn "Sew Lovely"

stamps and introduced them to ink for the first time.

The dress on the dress form, I paper pieced

with some scraps I had laying in my scrap bin.

I decided it would be fun to go shabby chic,

so I used some Core'dinations cardstock

sanded down and distressed, then ripped

up the purple swiss dot cardstock for a fun edge

before I glammed it up a bit with 

sheer ribbon and silver pearls.

And now, a little feast for the eyes.

My hubby spent Saturday afternoon

while I was at work, on speakerphone

with his mother in Germany

baking this cake "together."

He was so proud, when I got home he asked,

"Are you going to post this on your blog?"

Around a mouthful of chocolate cake

and raspberries and pudding,

I replied that I most definitely would.

He did everything from scratch,

and let me tell you, it was YUMMY!

With that, I bid you Auf Wiedersehen.

'Til next time, friends. :o)

Card Supplies:

cardstock: Hollo's, Core'dinations, Bazzill Swiss Dot

patterned paper: Basic Grey "Kioshi", Best Occasions

stamps: Lawn Fawn "You're So Lovely"

ink: Tsukineko Momento in Tuxedo Black

copics: Special Black 110, C05

ribbon: Offray

pearls: Queen & Co

Hero Arts Winking Reindeer & Autumn Cheesecake

Happy Cyber Monday, everybody!

Did you survive the Thanksgiving/Black Friday weekend?

I did, but just barely! I worked more hours in the last four days

than I normally do in an entire week.

I'm beat.

But, I had the day off today, so I'm feeling a little more rested now.

Friday evening I had a lovely (but too short)

visit with my cousin Ashley and her husband Jason

and she and I got to talk crafty stuff, which was so nice.

I need more crafty friends!

Anyway, how about a card?

I wish I could take credit for this nifty technique,

but I scraplifted it from Lisa Spangler's blog,

with only a slight modification.

I thought the yarn scarf might not stay put through the mail,

so on mine, I paper pierced two holes on either side of

the reindeer's neck and threaded some baker's twine through.

The deer has a really great shimmer in real life thanks to the

perfect pearls, but it doesn't showup in the photo, unfortunately.

I also wanted to share a quick pic of the

Autumn Cheesecake I made for Thanksgiving.

It's covered with apple slices tossed in cinnamon

and sugar plus finely chopped pecans.

YUM!

Supplies:
cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: My Mind's Eye Wonderful Winter collection
stamp: Hero Arts Winking Reindeer, snowflakes, sentiment
ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Ranger Spun Sugar Distress Ink
watercolor pencils: Reeves 24 piece set
embellishments: Martha Stewart baker's twine, perfect pearls mixed with water

German Fruit Tart

You didn't think I was going to entitle a post, "Eat Cake" and then not follow up with some cake, did ya? This is a German Fruit Tart, well, I don't know if it's technically "German" but they were very common when we lived in Germany near my husband's parents. German cakes are a wonder, I tell you. Nothing like the plain jane birthday cakes and frosting that are typical here. German cakes have creams and puddings and layers of real whipping cream, rum, sour cherries, and just about everything imaginable. At our wedding in Germany we had 50 different cakes! It's typical to start out the reception with Kaffetrinken, which is kind of like the Brittish tea, but with coffee. Then later is the dinner, followed by the big wedding cake (we had a handmade ice cream cake created my a Master Patisserie Chef -- I didn't want to compete with the earlier cakes -- in layers of flavors including chocolate, raspberry, kiwi, pomegranate, and vanilla all covered in marzipan. YUMMM!), and, as if that weren't enough, around midnight we brought out fruits and cheeses and of course, more wine. Weddings in Germany are definitely an ALL DAY affair.

But I've gotten sidetracked. Would you like a peek at the cake I made?


Unlike our wedding cakes, this one didn't take much time at all. There aren't many German cakes I can replicate here in the States because the ingredients aren't readily available, but our local Wegmans just happens to carry the "boden" or cake-portion of this dessert in their bakery aisle. It's the exact same cake boden (floor) that's available in Germany, right down to the packaging. I think one of the reasons this kind of cake is so popular in Germany is that the boden can be purchased pre-made, which saves all those desperate housewives a little time, especially since they typically make 2-3 cakes every weekend for Sunday Kaffetrinken.

Now, the main attraction of this cake is obviously the fruit, but if you put the fruit directly on the boden, it will get all soggy -- not good. German housefraus sprinke a layer of sahnestieff (what they put in whipping cream to make it extra stiff) over the boden -- this helps. Since I had none, I did something else I'd seen there, which is make up some vanilla pudding, let it firm up, then cover the boden with a thin layer.

All that's left to do then is to arrange your fruit, any sort you choose, in a circular pattern around the cake. I used strawberries, mandarins, kiwis, raspberries and blueberries. It ended up looking like this...


You could substitute any fruit you like. My mother-in-law also does a version of this for her strawberry shortcake. Simply omit the pudding, cover with strawberries, and add whipping cream over the top. There's lots of options here. I hope you'll try it out! Enjoy!

Happy Seventh Birthday, Elliott!

First off, I want to wish a very happy birthday to my son Elliott! Elliott is turning seven today. He's a wonderful, bright, energetic child who loves playing firefighters, police, secret agents, and deep sea divers. Elliott admires his Uncle Jeremy very much and wants to go diving with him when he gets older. Since we've done the whole firefighter birthday a few times, Elliott decided to go with the deep sea theme this year. And as I do every year, I made his birthday cake. I'm certainly no professional, but I do enjoy trying my hand at it three times a year when my boys birthdays come around. Check out Elliott's ocean cake.


I made a two-layer yellow cake with cream cheese frosting tinted blue. I like everything on my cake to be edible, so I used sour apple strips trimmed to look like plants, peach jelly bellys and watermelon nerds candy for the rocks, and assorted sweedish fish for my sea life.


On the top, I wrote Happy Birthday and ringed it with some circling shark fins cut out from purple fruit slices. They had a blue rind (sort of looked like purple and blue half orange slices) which I trimmed off.


We even had a lobster, among other things, including starfish, sea horses, blow fish, and a wiggly, giggly octopus.


Elliott has been through so much in his short life, including being born with club feet, wearing casts, braces, and having lots of physical therepy, and eventually surgery at the Shriner's Hospital. He's doing so well now, and he's such a happy, lively, thoughtful boy, my heart warms over every time I look at his precious, freckled face. I love my boy! Happy Birthday, darling Elliott. Mama loves you so dearly.

What's Cookin'? White Chili!

Greetings, all! How are you this April Fools Day? Did you play any tricks on anybody? I thought about making some faux eggs with yogurt and canned peach halves on pound cake "toast" for breakfast this morning, but I ended up not going to the store last night so I had to forgo it. Oh well! I'll save the idea for next year.

Speaking of cooking though, I did make some yummy white chili in the crock pot for dinner last night! It was a brand-new recipe for me, and as usual, I modified it to suit my family's tastes. Everyone loved it! I served it with hot corn bread muffins. Have a look at this steaming bowl of deliciousness!


White Chili

Ingredients:
3 15 1/2oz cans great northern beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed or shredded
1 15oz jar alfredo sauce
2 cups chicken broth
1 4oz can chopped green chilis
1 can corn
1 8oz bag shredded colby jack (or any jack) cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 small yellow pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 8oz block cream cheese
fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:
Spray the inside of your crock pot with cooking spray.
Combine all ingredients EXCEPT cream cheese and cilantro.
Cook on low for 3-4 hours.
Cube cream cheese and stir in until melted.
Ladel into bowls. Top with fresh cilantro.

And in keeping with the kitchen, I also made a new card this afternoon.


I wanted to use this adorable mixing bowl stamp from Hero Arts (What's the Scoop?) so I stamped that in Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored it in with Copics. I had this picnic-y red plaid paper that I thought would go perfect with it. I wish I could remember the brand -- I know I got it at JoAnn's if that helps.

I used some black Bazzill cardstock for my card base, but it looked really bland and flat, so I decided to clear emboss some of the other tasty treats in that stamp set, as if the bowl is daydreaming of all the yummy possibilities. I did a little faux stitching in a white gel pen around the patterned paper to make it pop.

Even after all that, it was still missing something. None of the sentiments I had seemed to work, and I didn't feel like going all the way back downstairs to plug the laptop into the printer to print something out, so I just wrote "what's cookin'?" as neatly as I could. Lol. It only took me three tries! I punched that out with an oval scallop punch and had a tiny scrap of yellow polkadot ribbon laying on my desk, so I used that behind. I popped both the image and the sentiment off the card with 3D dimentional dots.


It turned out pretty cute, no? And I know just who to send this one to. A sweet new friend recently sent some adorable stamped images for me to color and use and it just so happens that she loves to bake, so Alison, this one's for you. :o)

Hope you all have a lovely evening! Get outside and enjoy this gorgeous spring weather!

Raspberry Coconut Squares

The weekend is officially here! As I mentioned, my kids had off school today, and thankfully it was sunny and warm enough with a light jacket for them to play outside. And can I just say that I am already sick of the sound of the slamming screen door? Lol. I guess Spring is officially here.

I had planned on getting some writing done this afternoon, but it was impossible to concentrate with the kids constantly coming in and out. I was beginning to think I should take a tip from one of those mothers you see in old movies who chase their children back outdoors with a broom. Rather than resort to pleads and threats, I gave up on trying to write during daylight hours and decided to do some baking instead. The kitchen is in the back of the house and we have a privacy fenced in yard, so I could keep a good eye on them while bustling about with my mixing bowl. Plus, I'd have something yummy to surprise my hubby with when he got home. That's always a good thing.

Unfortunately, I realized just in time that I was out of eggs, due to my craving for an egg salad sandwich for lunch. I remembered that I had a recipe for Raspberry Coconut Bars Squares that I'd been meaning to try, and bought all the ingredients for, and then never made. Since it doesn't call for any eggs, that's what I decided to make.


Raspberry Coconut Squares (modified slightly to Christy's version)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
2 2/3 cups flaked coconut
1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 18oz jar raspberry preserves
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
In a pan, melt butter. Add graham cracker crumbs, mix with a fork to combine. Press into a greased 9X13 baking dish.
In a bowl, add coconut and condensed milk. Toss with 2 forks or salad tongs to mix thoroughly. Plop by spoonfuls over the graham cracker crust, press down to cover. This can be quite sticky, so I sprinkled a little extra dry flaked coconut over top, then pressed it all down with my hands. The mixture is wet enough that the dry coconut will stick to it, but not so much to your hands.
Bake at 350 F for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned. Cool completely on a wire rack.
Stir raspberry preserves with a spoon in the jar until it's good and runny. Drizzle over coconut, smear with the back of the spoon or a rubber spatula to cover completely.
In a dry frying pan, pour pecans (walnuts could be substituted if that's what you have on hand) and toast over medium high heat until they begin to smell warm and nutty. Remove from heat immediately and sprinkle over preserves.
Pour chocolate chips in a bowl and melt for 30 seconds at a time on 50% power, stirring after each time, until they are lump-free and gooey delicious. Drizzle over top of dessert.


Now, if you can wait until the chocolate cools and hardens, you are a much stronger woman than I. If you give in, as I did, do check your face on the side of the toaster before you serve your family or guests. I had telltale traces of melted chocolate all over my bottom lip, which resulted in me having to dole out a slice to each of my boys before dinner, or endure the humiliation of being labeled as a mom who doesn't practice what she preaches.

And I've got the unfinished dinner plates to prove it. Oh well, sometimes you've just got to live a little, you know? And let the people in your life live a little with you. I can't think of a better parenting practice than that.

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Christy's Top Secret (Shh!) Chocolate Cake Recipe

Is there anything on earth better than a decadant slice of chocolate cake? Well, maybe, but it's gotta be right up there. I've tried and tweaked a lot of chocolate cake recipes over the years and I've finally hit upon one that's just about perfection. It's rich, dark, and moist -- just what you want in a chocolate cake. I don't share the recipe with just anyone, so consider yourselves among the priviledged few. ;o)

Today we had Dominic's birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese, since we had to cancel it two Saturdays ago when we all got sick. Though we normally wouldn't schedule a party on a school night, we made an exception this time since they're always so crazy full on the weekends. It actually worked out really well. And of course, I had to make cupcakes! I decorated them with fudge frosting and various sprinkles, mini chocolate chips, and chopped nuts. And they were yummy!


Christy's Top Secret Chocolate Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
3/4 cup dark cocoa (regular cocoa is also okay if you don't have the dark)
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup plain or vanilla yogurt
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup coffee, cooled

Directions:
In a large bowl, mix cocoa, sugar, salt, flour, and baking soda.
In a medium bowl, beat together yogurt, oil, eggs, vanilla, and coffee.
Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients, whisk until smooth.
Pour into a greased pan (I use a springform pan with a hole in the center, but you can use a bundt pan, 2 9" rounds, or a 9X13" or lined muffin tins)
Bake at 325 F for one hour or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool for 20 minutes, invert on a wire rack sprayed with cooking spray.
Cool 20 more minutes or longer. Gently loosen from pan with a butter knife or thin rubber spatula.

Decorate as desired.



I hope you enjoy it! Have a great night!

Easy Crescent-Topped Turkey Pot Pie

It's the weeekend, everybody! Aren't you glad? I'm about to run out the door here and try to catch a movie, but I wanted to do a quick post to share what I made for dinner tonight. I call it Turkey Pot Pie, but it's actually topped with refrigerated crescent rolls, rather than inside a pie crust. Whatever it is, my family loves it! When I make this dish, I don't get any complaints for dinner.



Christy's Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup mayonaise
2 Tbsp flour
2 Tsp chicken bullion
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese (optional)
1 lb deli turkey breast, cubed
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large saucepan, add mayo, flour, and bullion, whisk over medium-high heat to combine. Gradually add milk, continuing to whisk until thick and creamy. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce reaches a simmer. Simmer 1 minute.

Reduce heat to medium. Add grated parm, whisk to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Add turkey and frozen veggies, heat through. Pour into a lightly greased 9X13 baking dish. Arrange crescent triangles in a pattern to cover the top of filling.

Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.



It's yummy! I hope you'll give it a try. Have a great weekend!

Kitty Cat Cupcakes

Ah, such a bittersweet day. My beautiful little baby turned FIVE today. I guess I can't really call him my little baby any more, can I? *sniffle* It's just unbelievable to me that so much time has passed. It seems like just yesterday I was wearing him tied against my chest, where I could sniff his downy head and smell his sweet newborn smell all day long. Can any of you mommies out there relate? Tell me, how do you get through it? While part of me applauds his every success, the other part of me wants to whip out my superwoman suit and fly backwards around the earth until time is reversed. My other two boys are already so independant, I can't imagine what I'm going to do the first time he tells me that he doesn't need my help anymore. *Sigh* Like I said, it was a bittersweet day.

But sniffles and tears aside, we had a fun time together. Dominic needed to bring in a birthday snack for Preschool, so I decided to make cupcakes and decorate them like his favorite animal. Take a look.


Meow, meow! I just baked a classic yellow cake recipe, and frosted them with a cream cheese frosting, since that's his favorite flavor. I used gummi grapefruit slices for the ears, bubblegum flavored jelly bellies for the nose, mini marshmellows cut in half for the upper lips, m&ms for the eyes, and black licorice laces for the whiskers.


And here's my beautiful birthday boy! Gah, his smile just kills me. That's my little lovey. Like his birthday hat? He got that at school today and didn't want to take it off. Too cute.


Man, I don't know about you, but I'm beat! I think I'm going to go catch the rest of American Idol and then hit the hay. I'm totally rooting for Casey, Alex, and Andrew of the boys, and Didi and Crystal of the girls this season. Are you guys watching? Who are your favorites?

Yaki Soba

Okay, so last Friday when I volunteered in my son Chaztin's second grade class, one of the stations that his teacher had set up was reading the childrens book "Yoko" by Rosemary Wells. It's the story is of a little Japanese girl (cat) who brings sushi to school for International Food Day, which no one wants to try. To coincide with that, she made Yaki Soba (Fried Noodles) and all the kids got to taste some.

Chaztin loved it so much that on the break from my station I went down and tried some myself and got the recipe. And the two of us decided to cook it tonight for the family.

Doesn't it look good? Because his teacher was making it for a bunch of students with different likes and dislikes, hers only contained noodles, edamame and egg. To make it more filling, and more suited to my family's tastes, I added a few other ingredients to the mix. You can copy mine or change it up however you want. It's a really easy recipe to play with.

Yaki Soba

ramen noodles (I used four packages of beef flavored, but you can make any amount or flavor)
thin "minute" steaks, sliced in strips (I marinated mine overnight in a little teriyaki sauce)
sliced mushrooms
matchstick carrots
edamame
green onion
2 eggs
olive oil

Open desired amount of ramen, set seasoning packets aside, and cover with boiling water for 3 minutes or according to the package directions. Drain well immediately. Toss with seasoning packets. Set aside.

In a wok or frying pan, add a little olive oil and saute mushrooms, set aside.
Scramble eggs with a tablespoon of water, pour into pan and cook on medium until set, carefully flip over, cook, remove, chop into slices, set aside.
Add meat to pan, cook until no longer pink, set aside.
Add a little more oil to pan, saute matchstick carrots and edamame, set aside.
(Btw, if you don't want to dirty up a bunch of dishes, just layer these in a large bowl (with the exception of the noodles.)
Add last bit of oil, fry noodles until they reach desired crisp-tender state.
Dump in cooked ingredients, toss to combine.
Thinly slice green onions and sprinkle over top.
Serve warm.

I added shrimp eggrolls as a side (Do they even have eggrolls in Japan? I don't know.) which I just bought frozen. They were yummy though! The whole meal was a big hit. Lots of great flavor, texture and color, and everybody cleaned their plates with no complaints.

I'd give it 5 stars, and I'll definitely be making this again.

Danish Snowmen

Once again, my creativity compelled me to the kitchen today. Normally I wouldn't post two similar crafts back to back, but I promise this one is worth it. I made a brunch/lunch for the two younger kids and myself today, eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice, and afterwards my sweet tooth was acting up again (darn thing!). I wanted to make something that was easy and fun for the kids using ingredients I had on hand. I came up with these adorable little danish snowmen. Aren't they cute?



Here's the low-down.

Danish Snowmen

2 packages refrigerated crescent rolls
1 8oz block cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
mini chocolate chips or halved raisins

glaze:
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1-2 tsp milk

Open your packages of refrigerated crescent rolls. Keeping them rolled, slice through the center perforations of both rolls, making 4 halves. Cut in half again (making 8), and then each of the 8 into equal third rounds. You should now have 24 crescent rounds.
Lightly grease two cookie sheets (or use baking paper if you have it -- I did) and preheat oven to 350 F.
Arrange rounds on cookie sheet, stacking two touching each other to form snowman bodies leaving 2" between each snowman to give them room to "grow."
With your thumb, press out a hollow circle in the center of each round.

In a medium bowl, blend your cream cheese with 1/2 cup powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth and creamy. Taste, add more sugar if needed to reach desired sweetness.
With a small spoon, fill the hollows with cream cheese mixture.
Decorate with mini chocolate chips or halved raisins to make snowman faces and buttons.

Bake at 350 F for 10-15 minutes, until the bottom edges turn golden brown. Remove from oven to cool.

In a small bowl, sift 1/3 cup powdered suger. Add milk very gradually, stirring well with a small spoon until you reach a glaze consistency (this is one case where it's better to be too thick than too thin!). Drizzle glaze with spoon over each still-warm snowman.

Allow to cool completely for 1-2 hours.
Makes 12 snowmen.

Have you ever seen anything so darling and delicious in all your life? My family couldn't get enough of them! So yummy! I do recommend that you do everything in your power to resist the temptation to eat them while they're still warm! As in the case with cheesecake or any other cream cheese based dessert, it tastes so much better when cooled. If you cave, not to worry. There's eleven of his friends just waiting to join him.

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

Today my creativity led me to the kitchen. After spending the morning out in the winter weather, I came home craving something warm and tangy and sweet. After flipping through my recipes, I decided to try my hand at a new one: Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake.


Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

1 egg
2 cups Bisquick mix
1/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 Tbsp grated lemon peel
1 cup frozen blueberries, thawed, rinsed and well-drained
1/4 cup Bisquick mix

Lemon Glaze

2/3 cup powdered sugar
3 tsp lemon juice

Beat egg slightly in a medium bowl. Stir in 2 cups Bisquick mix, sugar, milk, and lemon peel.
In a small bowl, toss blueberries with 1/4 Bisquick mix (this is to absorb excess moisture and prevent the berries from clumping together in the cake), fold into batter.
Spread into a greased 9"x 1 1/2" round cake pan or 9"x 13" rectangular baking dish (I bet you could also use a bundt pan).
Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool 10 minutes. Drizzle with Lemon Glaze. Serve warm.



Look at all that yummy blueberry goodness! This came out tasting like a big blueberry muffin. It hit all the right notes as far as warm and tangy goes, though it could have been a little sweeter for my personal preference. The next time I make it I will definitely increase the sugar to 1/2 cup. The Lemon Glaze was the perfect compliment. I had one piece warm when it came out of the oven this afternoon, and another one cold (well, room temperature) just a moment ago that was equally good.


If you decide to try it for yourself, let me know how it turns out! Enjoy!

Creamy Chicken and Chile Enchiladas

Happy Monday, all! I have recently discovered a new love for Mondays, thanks to the very talented Kristina Werner and her MACM (Make A Card Monday) tutorials. If you haven't watched one of Kristina's videos, drop everything that you're doing and head over to her blog http://www.kwernerdesign.com/blog/ and then meet me back here so you can tell me how wonderful I am for sharing that link. You're very welcome. ;o)

Another reason I love this Monday in particular, is because I received a package in the mail today! Yay! About a week ago, I was reading through Paper Crafts magazine and I saw an add for a site called addictedtoscrapbooking.com, and even though I'm not a scrapper (yet) I decided to check it out. Turns out they sell all kinds of paper crafting supplies, and I spent a delightful couple hours (I was sick, so I had an excuse to lay around) scrolling through all 6,859 rubber stamps they have. (I'm dead serious. 6,859!) Well, my husband happened to walk by and saw my longing glances and the saliva dripping from my chin (okay, so I'm not serious about that part) and after I'd explained to him that it just happened to be the last day of a sale where you could take 40% off any one item and showed him the adorable stamp set which I could use in so many different ways, he very generously bought them for me. (Thank you, Pookie! You're the sweetest!) Today they arrived! Take a look.



I thought it was very nice that they also sent me a pretty sheet of scrapbook paper and three pieces of candy. Okay, so it's cheap candy that I will probably just throw away, but that's beside the point. They've made their impression. I know that companies sometimes throw in freebies for people who make a $50 or $100 purchase, but I thought that was unusual for someone who spent less than $20 total including shipping.

Here's a closer look at the stamps. Aren't they cute? It's the "What's the Scoop?" collection from Hero Arts and they're even better in person. I love that they can be used in so many different combinations. My head's already swimming with ideas.



Well, as if that weren't enough to blog about, there's more. I decided to get crafty today by trying a new recipe. In the grocery store yesterday, I came across a can of green chile enchilada sauce that had a recipe on the label called Creamy Chicken and Chile Enchiladas. I decided to try it, with a few minor alterations. As the Pioneer Woman says (don't you just love her?), here's the cast of characters.

A pound or so of shredded chicken breast (I boiled and shredded 4), 2 cans of green chile enchilada sauce, 1 can of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chiles (that's my "few" alterations. recipe called for plain diced green chiles, but I thought the tomatoes would add a nice sweetness.), an 8 oz block of cream cheese, an 8 oz package of shredded cheese (I used a colby jack taco blend), and 12 or so tortillas, depending on how much you stuff them.

So, I started by draining and heating up the tomatoes and chiles in a large saucepan, cut the cream cheese into blocks and added that until it was melted and combined, then added my shredded chicken breast. That mixture I spooned onto each tortilla, and then wrapped them up by tucking in the short ends first, and then the long ends and putting them fold down in a greased 9x13" baking dish. My recipe made enough for 12 enchiladas and since I could only fit 6 in a baking dish, I ended up using 2. Over each pan of enchiladas I poured 1 can of the green chile enchilada sauce, and topped it off with half a bag of cheese (we like a lot of cheese). Bake in a preheated oven at 400 F for 20-30 minutes (mine took 30) or until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese is lightly browned.

And here's how it came out. We are a family of 5, with three boys ages 8, 6, and 4. Each of them ate a half an enchilada, I ate 1 1/2 and my husband ate 2. So we ended up with one, plus an entire dish of 6 left over. Not bad if you don't mind eating them as leftovers later in the week. If you want to avoid this and think your family would eat a similar amount to mine, I'd recommend just cutting the recipe in half.

I also made a little salad by mixing up some diced tomatoes, a can of corn, a little ranch dressing and some salt and pepper in a bowl and it was a nice accompaniment. I would have liked to add a little something green to the plate for color, but I couldn't find anything suitable, so I just left it. Refried beans would also make a great side dish, but no one in my family will eat them except me, so it's rarely worth the trouble for me to make them.

The finished result was pretty good! I'd give it 4 out of 5 stars. It was yummy, but the recipe could be improved upon. Next time I think I'll add a little taco seasoning in with the chicken mixture to give it a little extra kick. It was pleasantly spicy without being overly so. I wouldn't have minded a little more heat, but since I'm cooking for kids, I usually stick on the mild side. The chicken mixture looked a little dry, but it was actually pretty creamy. Still, next time I might not drain the dickens out of the tomatoes and chiles. A little extra moisture would not have been a bad thing. All in all, it was a decent recipe. One I'll definitely revisit again, but be sure to play around with some.