Thursday, December 27, 2012

It is with great sadness that Terri's family informs you that she passed away suddenly on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 2012.

Her blog, followers and fellow bloggers meant the world to her. She talked about you and promoted your blogs on a daily basis to family and friends and thought of all of you as her friends.

You meant the world to her and we, her family, thank you very much.

Should you look up into the sky one day and notice clouds that could be words you cannot quite make out, you will know it is Terri blogging away in heaven.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Twinkies DIY recipe

TWINKIES!

What, no more Twinkies?

Are you in a panic over the news that Hostess who makes Twinkies, DingDongs, Cupcakes, Snowballs are closing up shop?  Since the 1930's families have bought and enjoyed the sweet, gooey treats as snacks.

Well calm down, just make your own....
See the video here

 Recipe: Twinkies DIY

Ingredients
  • Non-stick spray
  • 4 egg whites
  • One 16-ounce box golden pound cake mix
  • 2/3 cup water
  • Filling
  • 2 teaspoons very hot water
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 cups marshmallow creme (one 7-ounce jar)
  • 1/2 cup shortening
  • 1/3 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
Preparation
You will need a spice bottle, approximately the size of a Twinkie, ten 12 x 14 -inch pieces of aluminum foil, a cake decorator or pastry bag, and a chopstick.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees
Fold each piece of aluminum foil in half twice. Wrap the folded foil around the spice bottle to create a mold. Leave the top of the mold open for pouring in the batter. Make 10 of these molds and arrange them on a cookie sheet or in a shallow pan. Grease the inside of each mold with a light coating of non-stick spray.
Disregard the directions on the box of cake mix. Instead, beat the egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl combine cake mix with water and beat until thoroughly blended (about 2 minutes). Fold egg whites into the cake batter and slowly combine until completely mixed.
Pour the batter into the molds, filling each one about 3/4 of an inch. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.
For the filling, combine salt with the hot water in a small bowl and stir until salt is dissolved. Let this mixture cool.
Combine the marshmallow creme, shortening, powdered sugar and vanilla in a medium bowl and mix well with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy.
Add the salt solution to the filling mixture and combine.
When the cakes are done and cooled, use a skewer or chopstick to make three holes in the bottom of each one. Move the stick around inside of each cake to create space for the filling.
Using a cake decorator or pastry bag, inject each cake with filling through all three holes.
Serving Size
Serves 10
Linking to;
apumpkinandaprincess
madeinaday
uncommonsliceofsuburbia


Saturday, November 3, 2012

Thanksgiving 2012



What blessings are you thankful for this Thanksgiving day 2012?




What traditions will you and your family enjoy while celebrating Thanksgiving day?
The traditional turkey dinner with dressing, and for dessert pies?
Watch all the football games, and the parade? Wonder if there will be the Macy's parade this year after the devastating hurricane in N.Y. 



Whatever plans you have  for Thanksgiving 2012 and will be enjoying  this year with family and friends let's take time to say a prayer for those affected by hurricane sandy.


Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe...
Heb 12:28, NIV

This year we will not only celebrate Thanksgiving but also my Son's birthday that falls on thanksgiving day.

Blessings, 
Terri


Linking to:






Monday, September 24, 2012

All about White Pumpkins

Nothing says Fall like Pumpkins do.  The beautiful colors of Fall, oranges, yellows, reds...natures colorful display!  Pumpkins are orange with green stems but lately the trend has been white pumpkins.
What's up with that?


Orange


White


Which are your favorite?  White or orange?



My fall mantel with pumpkins

A Pumpkin tree




I am wondering why this year white pumpkins are so popular.  I have to admit that I never knew there were white pumpkins before seeing so many this year, some even paint the orange ones white. Somehow I can't imagine a white pumpkin pie! I'm a die-hard orange pumpkin fan.

I found this interesting explanation on About.com :

Definition: Orange is so yesterday. Here in New England, white pumpkins, once a novelty, are becoming increasingly common, and these intriguing white orbs are all the rage when it comes to chic autumn decorating.


Blog parties


Thursday, September 13, 2012

Mr. and Mrs. Jack'O Lantern

I just had to share these adorable pumpkins that were made by modpodging dictionary pages unto plastic pumpkins.  




So cute and creative!
See more about them here.


Pumpkin fudge recipe from RealMomKitchen

Pumpkin Fudge
3 cups granulated sugar
¾ cup melted butter
2/3 cup evaporated milk
½ cup canned pure pumpkin
2 Tbs corn syrup
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
12 oz package white chocolate morsels
7 oz jar marshmallow crème
1 cup chopped pecans, toasted (optional, but I highly recommend))
1 tsp vanilla extract
1. Line 9″ square pan with aluminum foil. Spray with nonstick spray.
2. Stir together first 6 ingredients in a 3½ quart saucepan over medium-high heat, and cook, stirring constantly, until a candy thermometer registers 234° (soft ball stage) or for about 12 minutes.
3. Once mixture reaches 234°, remove from heat and quickly stir in remaining ingredients until well blended.
4. Pour into prepared pan. Let stand 2 hours or until completely cool; cut fudge into squares.
Yield: About 3 pounds
Sounds yummy, have to make this!!




Monday, September 10, 2012

Pumpkin Spice Latte copycat recipe

You know summer's over and fall is in the air when Starbucks offers their Pumpkin Spice Latte. YUM!! We treated our neighbor friends with a cup recently because they never tasted it before plus they are great neighbors who are there whenever we need them.

CopyCat Recipe Pumpkin Spice Latte from Food.com

I discovered several variations of copycat recipes to make your own Pumpkin Spice Latte at home for when you can't get to a Starbucks.

This one sounded good, quick, easy:

3 tablespoons canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons vanilla-flavored syrup
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 cup milk
3 ounces espresso (1-2 shots)
Directions:

1
In a small saucepan, stir pumpkin puree into milk.
2
Add vanilla syrup and pumpkin pie spice.
3
Heat gently, continuing to stirring occasionally just until steaming and foam begins to appear.
4
Pour pumpkin flavored milk into a tall mug and pour espresso over.
5
Top with whip cream and a dash of pumpkin pie spice.
6
Note: If you like it slightly sweeter; add a bit of vanilla flavored coffee cream.


Read more at: http://www.food.com/recipe/starbucks-pumpkin-spice-latte-copycat-270550?oc=linkback

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Breakfast tablescape

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  Do you grab a piece of toast and coffee? (my favorite) Or do you prefer a bowl of cereal and fruit?  Usually on weekends everyone enjoys a leisurely sit down bacon and eggs large breakfast. For those times that the family all gathers for a large delicious breakfast why not set the table with bright, fun table linens, dishes, bowls, serving pieces. Like the one pictured, from WorldMarket.


A diagram for setting the table"

World Market Gave us some great ideas for a breakfast, brunch tablescape. I love the idea of using a lemon or orange as a placecard, use a Sharpie and write each guests name on it and place it by their setting. 

Everything tastes better with a bright cheerful tablescape, don't you agree?  Wake up your family this weekend with a delicious breakfast served on a cheerful good morning tablescape!! Make every meal a celebration of life!

Surprise them with a Country Apple Dumpling

Click on photo for recipe!
Linking to



Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Guess what this cookie basket is made of

Photo from NellieBellie Blog

What caught my attention to this blog post and photo was the title "a 5 minute craft"
a cookie basket DIY in 5 minutes, wow I can do that...:)

This cookie basket made in 5 minutes was so cute with it's pretty blue ribbon, and the starfish, looked very beachy to me which is my favorite craft design.

But at first glance I could not figure out what it was made of, can you?

When I read more and discovered it was a paper plate basket I was surprised. The tutorial makes the entire project easy enough that even I can do it. Thinking of all the ways I can decorate it with twine, burlap, paint etc... Get your creativity on and lets see your paper plate baskets, soon as I can I will post photos of mine.

Thanks to NellieBellie blog for this quick, easy and cute idea!


Monday, July 30, 2012

The many uses of vinegar

Recently out of necessity I rediscovered a household staple, vinegar. It happened one day after opening a cabinet and discovering dreaded ants had taken over. What a mess, had to throw away open containers of food. I went online searching for a natural way to kill the ants and that's when I read that vinegar in a spray bottle kills them and keeps them from returning. It did work.

After that fiasco I decided to search for other uses for vinegar and found quite a few good ideas. For example, vinegar will get rid of those ugly mineral deposits from faucets, shower doors, sinks, bathtubs,put some in a drain to freshen the drain.



Vinegar is not only a good natural cleaner it's also a disinfectant.
It will get rid of smoky smells, by placing it in a bowl and leave  till odors are gone.
Use it to get rid of mildew stains.
It will shine, brass, copper and silver.
Removes sticky residue.
Cleans your coffee pot.
Will remove some carpet stains.
Removes water stains from wood tables.
Apple cider vinegar is a good diet aid.

Does all that for so little money, imagine how much money you can save by using this little miracle product.

Linking to:
bloghop
myRomantichome
itsoverflowing

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Best of Pinterest

By now you probably discovered Pinterest. What is Pinterest? It is a virtual pinboard that you can use to organize recipes, decorating ideas etc. I love it!

One of my most popular pins is this one:



This pin has been repinned 63 times.  I have 114 followers and 645 pins, and 15 boards. Boards are titled, Mantels, crafts, organizing etc. 

Mantels:


Crafts:


Would love to see your Pinterest board!

Pinterest101, how to set one up, etc!
PinterestBlog Trends, like WashiTape pins.

Linking To:

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

ChalkBoard Paint and Contact paper

Have you heard about ChalkBoard Paint yet? If you haven't believe me you will. There is ChalkBoard contact paper as well.

The paint is available in cans:
Benjamin Moore Quart Can

ChalkBoard paint in spray cans : 

Krylon Spray paint Black or Green

Folk Art paint 8 ounces:

Plaid - PLAID- FolkArt Chalkboard Paint 8 Ounces-Green Now you can create a chalkboard writing surface on any piece of wood and even terra cotta ...

What craft projects can ChalkBoard paint be used for? There are tons of creative projects in Blogland, following  are some unique ideas to spark your own creativity.

Look at these cute drink tags. See HappyTulip for instructions.



Frame ChalkBoard paints. See Createlovegrow


look at these adorable herb pots. chapstickfantique



Paint on fabric pillows. See more ideas at JamieBrockHub


Cityfarmhouse covered the glass on this hutch with chalkboard contact paper!




There you go, now show us what creative craft project using Chalkboard paint that you created, please.....


Saturday, June 23, 2012

Sweets for your 4th celebrations

Summer is here! 
Time for all the fun, good food, parties and celebrations.  I just discovered a really fun, informative blog called ChickaBug, not only are there great recipes but there are freebies, party ideas, giveaways and much more! I could spend hours just enjoying the eye candy.

Look at these 4th of July sweets!



My favorite is the beautiful red/white and blue iced cake.
Look at the American flag cake, the bundt cake looks delicious!

Your sweet table will be a huge hit when serving anyone of these sweet beauties!

Add a red tablecloth, flags, red white and blue candles, red white and blue floral centerpiece and wow what a way to celebrate the 4th of July!

Go and visit Chickabug for more great party ideas!

Linking to:






Saturday, June 9, 2012

Surf's up for Father's Day

Father's day is almost here. This year I wanted to surprise my California born husband with more than a regular plain old father's day cake. So I will surprise him and bake these cute Surfboard cookies.
I ordered a surfboard cookie cutter and stencils.




Surfboard Stencil



Surfboard stencil


How cute are they? I know he will love his Father's day surprise cookies, especially if I can get a reservation to fly to California this year. What do you all think?

Happy Father's day to all Dad's and Grandfathers!


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Friday, June 8, 2012

Word of the day


Word of the day................

CONSIDERATE!



Word for today be "Considerate" of others!

1 Corinthians 10:24
"Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor."

1 Corinthians 10:23-24
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor.

If you are living in an apartment be considerate of others around you. Regardless of your age, from teen to adult treat others as you would want them to treat YOU!! Really? You have to jump run and slam things against the walls and floors making unbelievable noise pollution? Than let it all go back on you 100 fold!