A friend of mine decided that she wanted to do something a bit unique for her birthday so she invited a group of us to try white water rafting with her. Of course I volunteered to bring the birthday cake. The Cake Rather than doing a traditional cake and then wondering if the icing would survive the trip I decided to do a coconut and pecan pound cake. It's a cake I've made a few times in other pans but I thought it was the perfect time to treat myself to a silicone bundt cake pan (which I had been thinking about for the apparent ease of storage and clean-up). The cake ended up being slightly more oblong that round but I think I'm the only one who would notice. Clean-up was such a breeze that I'm going back to the shop to treat myself to the jumbo muffin pans too. You can find the cake recipe here. My oven doesn't cook very evenly so I need to turn the cake at about 25 minutes and the last few times I've made it I've poked holes in the cake before drizzling the syrup on, then wrapped the cake in plastic wrap until it was ready to serve the next day. It's very dense and easy to eat with your fingers which makes it great for camping or picnics. It's great in winter fresh out of the oven with a hot drink or served cold in summer with strawberries and whipped cream.
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Step 1. Buy two tables. Step 2. Clean and sand tables. Step 3. Paint tables (see first image). Step 4. Water down some darker paint, apply with brush, rub off with rags (See second image). Step 5. Realize you detest the effect from Step 4 (even though you've liked it on other projects). Step 6. Repaint tables. The tables need another coat. Then I'll post pics. And then I have to consider how they'll work with the new floors and might end up repainting them yet again or looking for something new altogether.
I found my flooring! I told you I'm lucky - the shop has just enough for my space, it's been discounted to less than half of what I had budgeted for, and a friend with experience has volunteered to install it with me! Now that I know the flooring I can choose the paint colour(s) and get to painting which I so love!
I like how the new series is coming together. I just love the whimsical imagery! I won't be selling these until I find the documentation that explains why projects like this aren't a copyright issue.
I spent last Sunday at the ball park. What a great day! It was warm and sunny, the park is gorgeous (on the river, surrounded by a variety of trees including the cherry blossoms which are out in full bloom), and the people I was there to watch kept me laughing. I mostly stayed near third base to take some actions shots with my long lens. During one of the games I joked to the guy on the opposing team who was covering third about building a sand castle. During the next inning he surprised me by building me a little sandcastle, complete with a little branch on top. Isn't that sweet and creative!? I didn't burn the books but was almost as destructive. I've collected children's books most of my life. I still have books that belonged to my aunts and uncles who were kids in the 50s. The illustrations of that era make me so nostalgic and I admire their simplicity. After moving into my condo in February I've been very good at getting rid of things I don't need or love and I finally decided it was time to let go of some of the books that hadn't been handed down to me. The precious ones are still in their box. I sold the books that were in the best condition. And I sliced the other ones up so I can make some cards out of them. Here are all the before pieces. I'll show you the afters when I get them finished.
Gramma Sok's Chocolate Haystack cookies with Cadbury Mini Eggs on top. Simple, easy, adorable, and yummy!
How to: 1. Set the eggs on a shallow dish and set aside. 2. Prep a cookie sheet with wax paper and set aside. 3. Mix and set aside in large bowl: 2 1/2 cups quick oats 1 cup coconut 4. Mix in a saucepan and gently boil for three minutes: 2 cups white sugar 1/2 cup milk 1/3 cup cocoa 1/4 cup butter 5. Once your mixture has boiled for three minutes pour it over the oats and coconut, drop by forkful onto the wax paper, slightly press eggs into center of cookie, refrigerate until firm. 6. If you want to go the extra mile serve on shredded green paper "grass" or pretty plate or napkin or doily. UPDATE: You can use margarine instead of butter. They can firm up outside of the fridge too. Family friends own the rental house where this rose lives. Those family friends and I have never been able to stay in one place nearly as long as this rose. Maybe that's one of the reasons I love it? Of course I love that the roses smell sooooo good and are so pretty and at the peak of growing I can harvest more than a dozen roses each day! This is my third or fourth year pruning it. I really have no idea what I'm doing but I do know I had to use a ladder to harvest the roses last year so I cut it back even more this year.
One of the Creative Simone Facebook fans guessed that the new light fixtures were $59 which was just $1 off the real, actual price of $60! She won a set of three of my water series cards and she ended up ordering a handful more she so has almost the whole set.
At some point in grade school my mum tried a recipe that had been given to her by a family friend. We liked it but made some changes. Then some more changes. And some more. Some changes were based on availability (they didn't really have Sour Cream in Africa when I tried to make it there), some changes were based on preferences (my dad and brother don't really like green peppers), and some changes were based on health considerations (we now use Balkan Style or Greek yogurt instead of sour cream). Yes, a recipe can change a lot in 25+ years!
Here's the latest version: If you like, first start frying up some ground meat or the veggie stuff that resembles ground meat. Meanwhile bring to a boil of a can of 796ml crushed tomatoes (Unico is my favorite brand), a 398ml can of baked beans (you can experiment with ones in tomato sauce, with pork, or in maple syrup which is my fave), and a 398ml can of kidney beans (you can experiment with white and red). If you're doing meat you can add it to this pot. Adding enchilada seasonings is optional. Keep this mixture hot until you're ready to serve. Finely chop whatever veggies you might. I like cucumber, green onions, avocado, sweet bell peppers, and tomatoes. In the past I also tried shredded lettuce and carrots (not my fave) and sometimes I add white or red onion and corn. I keep each veggie in its own dish if I'm eating with other people. Shred whichever cheese you'd like. Over the years I've done cheddars, marble, mozzarella, and jack. Choose some gooey dairy to go on top. I like Greek yogurt but you can use sour cream or cottage cheese instead. I like to put these in their own dishes too. Get out the salsa if you want it and the nacho chips (I like plain tortilla chips, but chips like Doritos work too, depending on your tastes). If you liked melted cheese put that on your plate first, then dollop on the hot sauce to help the cheese melt. Add whichever toppings you want. Then either scoop this up with chips or follow my lead and sprinkle crushed chips on top and mix it all up. GO EASY on the toppings - this dish piles up fast! The more you make it the more you will personalize it. It's fun! It's a great way to get kids involved in the kitchen and excited about what they're eating. It's fun to serve at parties as it can accommodate any picky eater! If you end up making this please come back and tell me how it went. I'm sure you'll love it! |
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