Springtime Wreath

 Have I ever mentioned that I greatly dislike our front door? I don't know why.  It's got this fancy carving stuff all over the outside of it.  I think the flowers might even be Tudor Roses.  You'd think I'd be gaga for it.  I'm not.  Just one of those things I guess.

So, in attempts to detract from the pattern, I've decided to hang stuff on the door.  We have a Christmas wreath and a fall wreath, but, as it is getting to be more and more spring-like, those two wreaths just aren't cutting it for me. I found this neat tutorial for a spring-y wreath over at PS Capture the Details.

All you need is a foam wreath form, Lime green Lion brand fun fur yarn (which looks so much like newly sprouted grass...the lighting was funky today so the colors are showing up muted), pins, some sort of flower and a ribbon for hanging.

The original tutorial calls for using bits of a floral trim.  I opted for using these fake flowers.  I didn't care for the floral trim and the fake flowers were on sale. 

I spent around $14 on supplies.  I wound up needing slightly more than 1 skein of yarn as I used a 10" wreath form, not an 8" wreath form as the tutorial suggested.  So, I have almost a full skein of the fuzzy green yarn left for another project, along with most of the ribbon, and a good portion of the fake flowers.  I would say I used only $8-$10 worth of supplies.  Not too shabby for a cheery touch of spring!

Quick Rye Bread

I wanted some bread to go with dinner the other night, but I just wasn't feeling all the prep work of making a yeasted bread. I thought this recipe for Rye bread posted on Cookie Madness might just fit my lazy attitude and carby craving. (Also, I bought this bag of rye flour back in May and have only used it once.)

I'm really unfamiliar with savory quick breads, and have only ever baked with Rye once before.  I was really interested as to how this loaf was going to turn out.

Mrblocko said he was surprised how light the texture was.  I can see why he might think the bread would be a bit rougher. The dough gets baked in a cake pan so it looks sort of like corn bread. Perhaps because of the shape, he was expecting the grittiness of corn bread. Or maybe he has just had some really dense and hearty rye breads.

I was surprised at how light the texture was too.  My bread has a tendency to be on the dense side.  Even though this bread doesn't get a lot of lift, it had a great crumb to it.  The bread even held up well after spending a few days in the fridge.  Sometimes bread will get super crumbly after a few days, but this leftover bread was fairly mess free when sliced and eaten.  I also noticed that it wasn't so dry that it HAD to have butter.  It was still really good on it's own.

I will make this bread again for sure, and not just to use up the remainder of my bag of Rye flour!

Mary's Quick Rye Bread a la Cookie Madness
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup rye flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 /2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1 /4 cup salted, melted butter
2 large, beaten eggs
1 /4 cup honey
3 /4 cup full fat yogurt (I used fat free sour cream)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 8"cake pan. Combine flours, baking powder and soda, and salt in a small bowl. Blend butter, eggs, honey and yogurt/sour cream in a large bowl. Add the dry to the wet ingredients. Mix til just incorporated.  Press batter into cake pan. Bake 37-40 min, til pick comes out clean.

Fairy Stencil Shirt

Blockette got a Tinkerbell Spray t shirt decorating thingamajig for Christmas from her Grandma.  This past weekend we finally got around to using it.

It had these pens that you could either use to draw with, or could attach with this straw thingie and use as sort of spray paint.  Blockette and I are both getting over colds so it was rather amusing to watch us attempt to use the blow paint. 

This shirt was 95% Blockette's ideas and concepts.  She really knew what she wanted to do!  I was allowed to put use my idea of vines around the neckline, and to use the hearts on the back.  Other than that, it was all her. 

Here is our finished project:

Tshirt front

Tshirt back

I think my favorite thing is the fairy drawn on the back.  She is just too too cute.

We still have plenty of ink left in the markers for other projects, but I think we'll save it for a time when Blockette and I aren't so hacky and stuffy from colds.

Cake Batter Krispies

Woah. Does a box of cake mix ever go a long way. Back in September I made cake batter ice cream with Strawberry cake mix.  The ice cream only used up 2/3 c of the cake mix, so in October I made some cake batter pancakes.  The pancakes used another 2/3 c of cake mix.  I still had A LOT of cake mix left, so for Christmas I made Cake batter truffles.  The truffles used a whopping cup of cake mix.  But, man, even after I made those truffles, I still had cake mix left!

Hmmm...what to make with all that leftover strawberry cake mix?  After a few months of pondering, I decided to make Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats.   I saw them first over at How Sweet it Is.  Then I saw a Red Velvet Version over at Runs with Spatulas where she used double the amount of cake mix.  Awesome!

I went ahead and doubled the recipe, as I was making them as a fundraiser for Relay for Life.  This was a wise move because at least 2 other teams were selling scrawny little krispie treats.  I sorta kinda felt sorry for them (the krispie treats and the other teams.)

These bad boys were the kind of Rice Krispie Bar where you almost need to unhinge your jaw to take a bite.  In my book, there really shouldn't be any other kind.

As you can see in the above photo, they are HUGE!  It was Mrblocko's idea to use the can of pop for scale, and he is my lovely hand model.  Didn't he do a great job?  Let's all give him a hearty round of applause.

*crickets*

OK honey, maybe you shouldn't quit your day job.

Anyhow, I have no idea how many sprinkles I used.  We had a large tub of sprinkles left over from Blockette's birthday party, so I just dumped in sprinkles until I thought the treats looked sufficiently sprinkle-y.  I figured you can never have too many sprinkles.

Now you would think that since the Red Velvet cake mix turned the krispie treats a nice bright red, the strawberry cake mix would have turned the treats pink.  Nope.  They only had a slight pinkish tinge.  I supposed I could get a better pink by adding food coloring or using pink marshmellows.  Maybe I will do that for the next Relay for Life bake sale.

As I made a double thick batch of krispie treats, I wound up using a full cup of the strawberry cake mix.  That left me with a running total of 3 1/3c of cake mix used, just from one box. Oh, and there's a still a few tablespoons left.  I haven't decided if I'm going to pitch this tiny remainder of mix, or find something else to use it in.  Anyone have any ideas as to how to use up a few Tablespoons of cake mix?

Super Thick Cake Batter Treats from How Sweet it Is and Runs with Spatulas
6 tablespoons butter or margarine (divided)
2 10-ounce bags of mini marshmallows
2 t vanilla (divided)
1 cup cake mix (divided)
12 cups rice krispies cereal (divided)
sprinkles and more sprinkles

Prepare a 9x13 pan by lining it with wax paper and spraying it well with Cooking Spray.  I like to use the super cheater microwave method.  In a large micro safe bowl, melt 3 T margarine for 30 sec.  Add 1 bag of marshmallows and stir until coated.  Nuke for 30 sec, stir.  If mixture is still lumpy, nuke another 30 sec. At this point you need to work quickly so the marshmallows don't set up. Add 1t vanilla and 1/2c cake mix.  Stir until combined.  Add 6 c krispies and sprinkles of your desired amount.  Stir until krispies are coated and sprinkles are evenly distributed.  Pour/dump into prepared pan.  Press into corners with greased hands, or a sheet of wax paper that has been sprayed really well with cooking spray.  Rinse out the bowl.  (No need to get fancy and use soap.)  Dry the bowl and repeat with your remaining ingredients.  Let the bars set for an hour or two before lifting out and cutting.

2012 Thankful Thurs #8

1.I took Blockette to the Dr even though she "only" had a cough and no fever.

2. She didn't have Bronchitis like I feared.

3. She has learned her lesson about not wearing her hat at recess, even though it's only a little chilly out.

4. I raised nearly $60 for the Relay for Life kickoff selling soup and baked goods.

5. Blockette saying "I love you" out of the blue.

6. Blockette mentioning that she's never heard me yell. (I have totally lost it on more than one occasion, so this must mean that she has forgotten about that.  Maybe I haven't scarred her for life?  At least not yet.)

7.Being productive at home, even if they are just little projects...they add up!

8. Sitting at church with Mrblocko on Wed.

9. Feeling better on the new probiotics. (Maybe this will do the trick...knock on wood.)

10. I got my sewing machine back!  Whooohooo!

Math Problems

Blockette came to me the other day complaining about how she was having trouble with her math workbook.  She said she just couldn't figure it out.  I was surprised because she is awesome with word problems.  See if you can fare any better.  (Keep in mind this is a First Grade Workbook.)

There is a horse race. Figure out how each of the horses placed with the following information:

Nibbles did not run as fast as Buckwheat.

Betty did not run as fast as Rosie.

Betty did not come in last.

Mint Hot Chocolate Cookies

Seeing as it hasn't been bitterly cold (knock on wood) this winter, no one in the house has been jazzed about hot chocolate.  This has left me with a plethora of hot chocolate mix, particularly as I prefer the stuff made with actual melted chocolate to the powdered mix.

I had 4 different types of hot chocolate mix!  How did that happen?  I found this recipe for cocoa peanut vegan cookies, on Babble that that uses hot chocolate mix.  Yes, hot chocolate mix.  The sweetened stuff, not cocoa powder.  Score!

Now my cookies weren't particularly vegan, as my hot chocolate mix contained milk, and so did my chips.  The thing is that you could totally vegan these bad boys up.  Or they would be perfect for someone with an egg or milk allergy! 

I did not have any peanuts, but I did have one and a half bags of mint and dark chocolate chips.  I have no idea how old they were, but the chocolate had begun to bloom.  The chocolate chips were ugly, but I figured if they were inside a cookie, no one would see them.  I used all one and a half bags of mint chocolate chips in place of the chocolate chips and peanuts.  They were a mighty fine substitution.

These were by far the softest cookies I have ever made.  I imagine that was due to the lack of fat (shortening/butter) and egg binder. By day three the cookies were so soft, they were sticking to each other and falling apart when you held them.  I tried to remedy this by leaving them in an unsealed container.  That did absolutely nothing.  I think a better solution would have been to store them in the freezer.  I will do that with the next batch.

Cocoa Peanut Chocolate Chip Cookies from Babble
2 cups + 2 Tbsp whole-wheat flour
1/3 cup sweetened cocoa powder (dairy-free for vegan cookies)
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup safflower oil (veg oil)
1/2 cup applesauce
3 Tbsp creamy peanut butter (soften in microwave if needed to stir into dough)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup salted/roasted peanuts
3/4 cup chocolate chips (vegan)
*add more peanuts/choc chips if desired

Preheat oven to 350F. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Stir in the wet ingredients. Fold in the peanuts and chocolate chips. Spoon dough onto greased cookie sheets. (Mine spread out quite a bit, so don't overcrowd them on the sheet.) Bake at 350 for about 11 minutes — or until edges crisp. (Mine baked for 15 min and did not get "crisp.") Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. (or attempting to remove them from the cookie sheet.)

P.S. The original recipe says it makes 16 large cookies.  I used my large cookie scoop and got at least 24 very large cookies, if not more.

P.P.S.  I read over on Cookie Madness, this tip about baking with applesauce: "Drain the applesauce.  Scoop out double the amount you need and dump that on a stack of paper towels.  Using the back of a spoon rub it into a 6" circle and let it sit for 10 min.  Gently press as much water out as you can. Then measure out what you need.  With the excess water removed there will be less steam and therefor a less rubbery product."  I can't wait to give this a try!