Sunday, May 13, 2012

Stampin Up Stamp Storage

This will be fairly short since I am already in bed, without contacts & can barely see the computer screen - Saturday morning I had planned on going garage sale'ing. Then when the alarm went off, nevermind, I am staying in bed. Then I got up, fixed breakfast for the fam & realized I wanted out of the house. So, I found a moving sale and scored this nice little dvd stand. Lots of adjustable shelves! So after a quick lowering of the price, I had to make room for it in the van. I wasn't smart enough to take out the in line double stroller, let alone the double wide jogging stroller. Quick pulling out of the car seat, pushing seat forward, whew, it was in! Granted at the next yard sale I found a bike for my nephew & had to rearrange a bit more....

So here it is, yes, hidden in my closet, but who needs hanging space for clothes anyways!

I would be working on my stamp cataloging system, but alas, the cherries are ripe & I need to go pick some! Road trip for us to my Dad's farm! I love road trips - it means quickly load up kids w/ their milk cups, run to McD's for egg mcmuffin (my treat) and pancakes for them. My kids are weird & haven't discovered the true love for syrup yet.

Happy Stampin!

b

Mother's Day Cookbook

Happy Mother's Day to all my mothering friends & family! My Mother's Day was pretty good since I now have a clean van and a new cookbook - Ree Drummond's The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Why do I like this cookbook - prolly most because it is from a country girl! She lives on a ranch, they have cattle, they work cattle (just like my childhood), they know what jumping hay bales is all about, and so much more. I love the pics of her life & family. Makes me so jealous since I am now in town.

Ok, I am in purging mode, so getting a new cookbook & a shelf for my Stampin Up obsession, I mean, biz, were not in the stars until late last week. I even had a great garage sale (anyone need baby clothes 9m to 24m in boys & girls?). I found Ree's website thru Pinterest (surprise)! I had scored a coffee concentrate pin & it went to her website. I love the recipes, I love the down home goodness her blog is all about.

So, my natural hoarding senses called for me to get her cookbook - but which one. I told Cooper he could get both of them & one could go to my SIL. Once I got them in my hand - OMG! Love the recipes, love the pics & comments to the audience. So, yes, I did let one out of my hands for Liz. I am scouring the first cookbook to see what I want to make first. I will be getting the second one soon - prolly need a Memorial Day present, or maybe Cooper needs it for his Father's Day gift - he will receive the good produced from the cookbook, right? :D

As I said - the coffee concentrate caught me by surprise - what a novel idea. 1 lb coffee grounds & 8 qts water, let sit 12-24 hours (that was a long 12 hrs), then strain thru cheesecloth.... alot of cheesecloth... Did I mention save the coffee grounds, add to water in a 5 gal bucket & you have fertilizer for your garden? It made alot of concentrate. I will be taking a jug to Angela this weekend. But so yummy when added to my Tastefully Simple mocha frappe mix & blended w/ ice. I sure need to start taking pics & posting...

Ok, coffee concentrate, check. Next up - Crash Hot Potatoes. Red potatoes, boiled & then placed on cookie sheet w/ olive oil on it. Crush them on the cookie sheet with a potato masher. Drizzle more olive oil, sprinkle with Tastefully Simple Season Salt, Onion Onion & Garlic Garlic. Bake 20-25 min till golden brown at 450 degrees.

Well, in addition to making that for dinner, I had time to get my garage sale dvd shelf put into the closet & get my stamps put up, catch up on some tv, and work on this blog! Kids are really tired today. They have been down for three & half hours right now... Well, time to get dinner going - Will work on my closet shelf later tonight.

b



Sunday, May 6, 2012

Texas Sheet Cake

Good evening! My dad & Lana came down for dinner so I needed something for dessert. Since I found a DIY brownie mix, it had an attached recipe for Texas Sheet Cake.

This site is where I found a bunch of great mixes - heart hands home -

Brownie Mix -
8 c sugar
6 c flour
2c cocoa
1 1/2TB baking powder
1 TB salt
Mix these ingredients together & store in airtight container.

Brownie Recipe
2 1/4c brownie mix
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 c oil
 2 t vanilla
1/2 c nuts or choc chips (I put both in)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease 8" pan, Combine ingredients & mix well. Bake 30-35 min.
I found that these dried out quicker than a box mix. After making the Texas Sheet Cake w/ this mix, I highly recommend adding some extra oil.

Texas Sheet Cake
4 c brownie mix
1/2c oil (in my measuring cup, I put in enough oil to be about halfway between 1/2c & 2/3c)
1 c water
1/2c sour cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 10x15 pan. Place brownie mix into bowl. In small saucepan, bring water, oil & sour cream to a boil. Add to mix. Add remaining ingredients. Bake 20-25 min. Frost while hot.

Frosting - 1/2c evaporated milk
1/2c butter
1/4c cocoa
3c powdered sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Mix all together frost on hot cake.