Homemade Butter Mints

I found this recipe from the website, Uncommon Artistic Endeavors, which is one of my favorites.

Ingredients:
1 lb box confectioners sugar
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 tsp peppermint extract
1 tbsp milk

Instructions:
Mix ingredients with a mixer until blended. The mixture will be coarse crumbs. Knead the crmbs together to make sure it is moistened. You can add a little more milk if too dry, or a little more sugar if too moist. You should be able to make a small ball and press it into the mold cleanly. (Ilet mine sit in the freezer for 5 minutes before popping mints out.) Pop the mint out of the mold and allow to dry on a flat surface. Store in single layers with wax paper between each layer. These freeze well. It looks crumbly, but when you smoosh it together, it forms a nice, smooth ball.

Tips Below:

The crumbled mixture before I added food coloring. I accidently melted my butter instead of softening it which made the mixture runny. I had to add more sugar to thicken it again.
They still tasted yummy!

This was my first try at making these mints. I could not get the food coloring to smooth out so the mints turned out speckled. I have some ideas for next time. I'll post if it works.

Since I made these for a girl baby shower, I used a teddy bear, daisy and bottle mold. However, the bottle mold didn't work well as I broke the bottles when popping them out. I'll need to practive that one. The bright pink and teal were picked to match the decor which symbolized the baby's nursery.

Gitmo Balls

Instead of just eating green olives out of the jar to satisfy my pregnancy craving, I found a recipe from a former Bible study teacher to be more creative with the olives. They are a bit time consuming because of wrapping each olive. However, they are worth it.

Ingredients:
7 oz grated sharp cheddar cheese (next time, I will use more cheese...maybe 8oz)
1/2 c. soft butter
Mix together then add:
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. flour
1 tsp. paprika

Instructions:
Make into dough then place a small amount in the palm of your hand; flatten; fold dough around green olive. Place on cookie sheet and put them in the freezer until firm. Store in freezer until ready to bake.

Bake at 350 degrees until crust is done (about 10-15 minutes). Also works well in a toaster oven for smaller serving size.

My attempt made 38 balls in which I froze most of them to pull out to cook as the cravings surfaced again. This would be a great appetizer for a party as well.

The dough is a bit crumbly so I had to makeshift the folding around the olive often.



The finished product. Mine did not all look like balls. O'well, still tasted yummy. I don't know why these are named "Gitmo" except for they make you want to "get more."

Lemon Cake with Lemon Sauce

I received this recipe from a high school friend's mom for my wedding in a journal of various cake recipes. I just tried it out this past weekend. It was very lemony and quite moist. However, it is not a cake you would want to take somewhere to be pretty as it looks plain, yet tasty for those who like lemon flavoring.

Ingredients:
1 box lemon cake mix
1 box lemon instant pudding
4 eggs
1 cup of water
1/2 c of cooking oil

Blend ingredients for 3 mins with electric mixer set on medium speed. Pour in tube pan. Bake in preheated oven at 325 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until done. (I did mine for 45 min.)

Sauce:
1/2 stick butter or margarine
1 c of confectioners sugar
Juice of 2 fresh lemons (my choice) or lemon juice

Bring ingredients to boil. Pour over cake while still in pan. Notice cake below is shiny as the sauce is setting into the cake

Cool cake completely before removing from pan. Has a lemon poundcake texture, but moist. Good with coffee or iced tea.

Simple Fall Table Decor

As I got into the Fall season spirit about a month or more ago, I started collecting various size pine cones and acorns when Alex and I went for a walk. Also, our backyard had some good acorn picks. Kroger was selling leaf plates for about $5 with a Kroger card. So, I picked up 2 plates and decided to create my own decor this year. I put 2 previously owned candles in the middle of pine cones and acorns to create 2 table top Fall decorations. I like the "hats" on top of the acorns best, so I hot glued the hats on that fell off. The decor was simple, cheap [~$10 for plates and a few walks (which we do often anyway) to collect free nature], natural, seasonal and fun. And of course, Alex received all the leftover acorns and pine cones to play with on the back deck. She loves carrying and grouping them.

Crescent Mummy Dogs

Another rendition to my recipe that I found off of http://www.foodnetwork.com/ is below. I have not tried this one as it looks really time consuming and Alex is too young to appreciate it. However, older kids might enjoy if you have the time. FYI: I copied the recipe straight from the website.



INGREDIENTS
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls or 1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury® Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated flaky dough sheet
2 1/2 slices American cheese, quartered (2.5 oz)
10 large hot dogs
Cooking spray
Mustard or ketchup, if desired


DIRECTIONS
1. Heat oven to 375°F.
2. If using crescent rolls: Unroll dough; separate at perforations, creating 4 rectangles. Press perforations to seal. If using dough sheet: Unroll dough; cut into 4 rectangles.
3. With knife or kitchen scissors, cut each rectangle lengthwise into 10 pieces, making a total of 40 pieces of dough. Slice cheese slices into quarters (1/2 slice cheese, cut in half).
4. Wrap 4 pieces of dough around each hot dog and 1/4 slice of cheese to look like "bandages," stretching dough slightly to completely cover hot dog. About 1/2 inch from one end of each hot dog, separate "bandages" so hot dog shows through for "face." On ungreased large cookie sheet, place wrapped hot dogs (cheese side down); spray dough lightly with cooking spray.
5. Bake 13 to 17 minutes or until dough is light golden brown and hot dogs are hot. With mustard, draw features on "face." High Altitude (3500-6500 ft): Bake 15 to 19 minutes.

Pig in a Blanket

This is a simple food to make for toddlers and kids for lunch or dinner. My daughter, Alex, is one yr old and loves them. I love them and eat them with her for lunch. I serve some type of veggie with them as well. You can refrigerate the leftovers and make another meal with it by heating in the microwave. These bring back memories as my mom used to make them for me. Enjoy!

Pig in a Blanket

Ingredients:
1 Pack of Hot Dogs (I use Hebrew National as they are tasty and healthier.)
1 Can of Crescent Roll Dough (I use Reduced Fat and the off brand works fine.)
Cheese (I used shredded cheddar cheese. However, growing up, my mom sliced American cheese.)

Instructions:
Preheat oven according to your crescent can instructions.

Cut 4 hot dogs in half and then slice them longways part way down the middle. Stuff cheese in the slit. Roll out crescent dough (should have 8 rolls in a can). Start cheese stuffed hot dog on the pointy end and roll up in the crescent dough. Make sure it finishes where the cheese side is up.

Place them all on a cookie sheet with space in between. I greased the bottom for half of them to see if it made a difference. It made no difference on my baking sheet so I will not grease it in the future. Cook according to your crescent can instructions. Place them all on a cookie sheet with space in between. I greased the bottom for half of them to see if it made a difference. It made no difference on my baking sheet so I will not grease it in the future. Cook according to your crescent can instructions. Lean toward the longer range of minutes because of filling. But, watch and make sure tops do not burn.


Finished Product. Of course, if you are serving this to a pretoddler or toddler, cut them up into small pieces. Let cool as they are hot. Enjoy!

Flower Cake and Cupcakes

I couldn't resist making and decorating Alex's first birthday cake after seeing the cute daisy flower pan at Hobby Lobby. I studied the brochure that came with it and decided I would attempt homemaking the icing and decorating the cake for the first time ever. The brochure was great in guiding you to exactly what items you needed to make the cake. So, I did a trial run (pics below) the weekend before the party. I got a little better as I did not have any crumbs enter the icing the second time. However, neither cake is perfect. My goal was completion, not perfection so I will not disclose all the mistakes I see or know about it. :) Overall, I was pleased. Icing the cupcakes with a tip was an idea my friend, Elizabeth, told me about. Thanks, Elizabeth! Through this process, I learned a ton about making buttercream icing, using tips, thinning the icing, coloring the icing, etc... Wilton (cake decor Brand found at Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Walmart, etc...) has great resources to help with the icing. Thanks Layla for letting me borrow your booklets!