Monday, October 31, 2011

Eye Candy

I took these pictures this summer on Orcas Island and I wanted to get one enlarged and framed for our bedroom.  I just can’t decide which one. Which do you like best??

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2.

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3.

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or 4.

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PLEASE IF YOU HAVE A MINUTE I WOULD REALLY LIKE YOUR OPINION.  IT SEEMS TO BE A DISCISION  I’M INCAPABLE OF MAKING Smile 

p.s pies start Tues!! I’m starting off with a Lemon Sour Cream

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Homemade Croissants

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There might not be anything yummier than, homemade croissants.  I don’t make them very often, because they are rather time consuming, and they have a whole lot of butter in them.  But with Thanksgiving fast approaching I wanted to share this recipe with you because they are perfect for a Thanksgiving dinner; and because I’ll be a little busy making pies to share them with you later.

The Recipe (from Better Homes and Gardens Bread book)

The butter

1 1/2 cups of butter (you can use margarine but butter works way better)

1/3 cup flour

The dough

2 packages active dry yeast

1/2 cup warm water

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 egg

3 1/2 to 4 1/4 cups of flour

The egg wash

1 egg yolk

1 TBS. milk

The Directions

Cream butter with 1/3 cup of flour

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Roll butter mixture between two sheets of waxed paper into a 12 X 6 inch rectangle. Chill at least 1 hour in the refrigerator.

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After the butter mixture has been in the refrigerator for a while, maybe 40 minutes I start the dough. 

In a large mixing bowl combine the 1/2 cup of warm water and the yeast, I also sprinkle it with a little sugar, just to get things going. In a separate microwave safe bowl combine the milk, sugar and salt, heat until warm and the sugar is dissolved.  Let it cool to lukewarm (if needed) and then add it to the yeast mixture along with 1 egg. beat well. Stir in about 3 1/2 to 4 cups of flour mix well.  Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface.  Knead in enough of the remaining flour to make a moderately soft dough that is smooth and elastic (3-5 min total) Cover and let rest 10 min.

Roll dough into a 14 inch square. 

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Place chilled butter on one half of dough;

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fold over other half and seal edges.

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Roll into a 21 X 12 inch rectangle. Chill dough in refrigerator.  (I always put my dough on a cookie sheet and cover it with plastic wrap while it’s in the fridge so it doesn’t dry out.)

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Fold the dough into thirds, seal edges.  Roll into a 21X12 inch rectangle.  Chill dough. Fold and roll dough twice more. Chill after each rolling.  After the last rolling fold the dough into thirds then chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight. **If some butter starts leaking out the side of your dough while rolling just sprinkle a little flour over it, to keep it from making a big mess**

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After the dough as chilled for several hours or overnight.  Cut the dough crosswise into fourths.

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Roll each fourth into a 12 inch circle.  Cut each circle into 12 wedges. 

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Roll up each wedge loosely, starting with the wide edge.

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Place, point side down, on a ungreased baking sheet, curve ends.

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Cover and let rise until doubled. Beat egg yolk and milk together and brush over rolls.

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Bake at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet and serve.  Makes 48 wonderful rolls.

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They are full of buttery wonderfulness. The were so good in fact, I thought we were going to eat all 48 of them at dinner. Thankfully we didn’t.

ENJOY!!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Overnight Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

My husband has old fashioned oatmeal with honey and frozen blueberries every single morning for breakfast.   So when I was looking through a cookbook and came across this recipe, I thought I would make it for him for a few reasons.

1. His breakfast would already be ready for him in the morning. &

2. I thought maybe it would be nice to try a new flavor.

3. I get to try out my new crock pot!!

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FYI-  ** THIS MAKES WAY TOO MUCH OATMEAL FOR OUR FAMILY OF 7. SO YOU MIGHT WANT TO SCALE IT DOWN **

The Recipe

(adapted from Fix-It and Forget-it Christmas cookbook)

3-4 apples, peeled and sliced

3/4 cup of brown sugar

1/2  tsp. of nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon

2 TBS of Butter

3 cup of uncooked rolled oats

6 cups of milk

Layer the apples in the bottom of your slow cooker.

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Sprinkle with brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon.  Dot with butter

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Layer oatmeal over the fruit.

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Pour milk over oatmeal and stir together until well blended. Cover cook on low for 6 hours. Then wake up to the smell of baking apples. So yummy.

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I served it with a bit of whipped cream and sprinkle of cinnamon and sugar.

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I was super YUMMY!  The only thing that my husband didn’t like about it was the texture, since he is used to having old fashioned rolled oats every morning he likes his oatmeal to have some bite to it.  This oatmeal cooks so long that it is more like instant oatmeal in texture. But the flavor is so great! But like I said it also makes way to much, when I make it again I would try making about 2/3 of a batch.

ENJOY!!

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Creepy Soap

The kids didn’t have school yesterday, so we made some Halloween crafts.  First we made creep soap, or as my almost 18 month old calls them “scary”

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My mom had given me this hunk of clear soap, so we decided to use it for our project.  All you have to do is melt it in the microwave.  Then you add any color or scent you want.

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She had also given me some soap dye and some soap sent.  So we used those too.

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We found some severed body parts and the Dollar Store, we also used a severed finger mold and some plastic spiders, bats, rats etc.

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We put the severed body parts into a muffin pan, and then covered them with the soap.  Some parts we covered completely, and some we left a bit of them showing.

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Then you let them harden, it actually doesn’t take that long.

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The kids love, them and they can’t seem to stop washing their hands Smile 

We also made some Halloween bows for the girls. I found these little guys, on clearance last year @ Michaels and I thought that they would make perfect bow centers, so I got a  pack of them for about 40 cents.

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I wanted to find some ribbon that wasn’t just the typical black and orange.  I love how this one turned out!

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And we did do some that were black and orange.

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We had a pretty great day.