Motivation

I've been lacking in motivation to do much. Especially when I haven't had the time to tweak all the recipes I have for high elevation. HOWEVER, recently I found some recipes that work very well in the higher elevations, which has rekindled the curiosity for some of the older recipes and some brand-spanking new ones. The next few days (and hopefully longer this time) I'll be trying out some of the new ones for measurements-sake and get them up here for you. And just if you're curious:

Nutella and Banana French Toast Sandwiches with Raspberry Sauce

Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches

Apple Zeppole with Cinnamon Whipped Cream (not mine, but dying to try!!)

Italian-Style Mozzarella Sticks

Honey Barbeque Chicken Wings

Potluck Chicken Salad

In a small town, it's harder to find taste testers, so once I post the recipes, please try them and let me know what you think. Feedback is always welcome! And if you live in town, please let me know!!!

That's all. Until (hopefully) tomorrow!

Quick Halloween Treat!

So I found this idea on the Wilton website a few weeks ago, and I finally got around to trying it out.

Need:

- 2 boxes of any no-bake cheesecake packages (I used the Jell-o version)

- Yellow food coloring

- Red food coloring

- Wilton's checkerboard cake pan set (can be found at Michaels or Wilton.com)

*you're only going to be using one pan and the divider

1. Mix up the crust as directed on the box and press it into the bottom of the pan. Set the divider into the center of the pan. (the divider might be a little above the edge of the pan, it's okay)

2. Mix up the filling as directed on the box. Spoon batter into the center circle only. Try to make it as even as possible.

3. Color the remainder of the batter with yellow food coloring. Depending on the type of food coloring used, you may have to use a lot or a little. It's all about preference.

4. Spoon the yellow batter into the outside circle, again keeping it as even as possible to the edge of the pan.

5. Mix up the last of the batter with red food coloring for the orange. Again, this may take a lot or a little, depending on the type of coloring used.

6. Spoon the batter into the middle circle.

7. Smooth out the tops of the colors with a spatula.

8. I took a butterknife dipped in hot water and ran it around the edges of the divider to make it easier to remove. That's completely optional, but in my experience, I would have messed it up otherwise.

9. SLOWLY pull the divider straight up and out of the pan. Take a spatula and smooth out the edges between colors.

Congratulations! You made a bullseye :) It makes about 12 pieces and when it's cut, it'll look just like a large piece of candy corn!

Next time, I want to try to see if I can find candy corn flavoring, but I'm not sure if it's out there :/ Oh well, this was a good attempt! Much better than my brownies a while back :)

I'm Back!

Well, I'm back! Didn't mean to not do anything for a year, but I'm gonna give it another shot here :)

I'm back in my second year of teaching, picking up a few dozen more projects for school, including but not limited to a website, MS and HS Honors Band/Choir, Festival (hosting!), Solo and Ensemble, 3 elementary programs and a musical. I'm gonna be a busy girl, but I like it this way!

On to my projects:

Two projects mentioned last time were on hiatus, and I'm proud to announce that one of them is finished! It's a cross stitch, and it's my biggest attempt since starting the craft. I believe it turned out rather well. Paying homage to my love of music and crafts all in one.

The entire thing :)

Close up

The other project is a felt embroidery Advent calendar. I'm attempting to make the calendar AND all the little pieces that go into the pockets. I'm hoping this one will be finished before Christmas this year... I have a few others that I'd like to start soon.

Full calendar. Notice it's still not done on the bottom.

Close up of the top, my favorite part :)

Close up of the bottom, again not finished.

I love the little 'I heart Santa' writing for Christmas Day.

Now onto the prospective ideas:

In my oven as we speak is a version of a Game Day Cupcakes snagged from one of my college friends over at Ready, Set, Craft! Joanne ALWAYS comes up with some really cool recipes that I try to (and usually fail at) repeating. It's hard to change recipes to successfully bake in high altitudes, and I'll whine about that sometimes. It's my birthday tomorrow, so I'm hoping to be able to give these out to the kids (because I don't need it!)

And last, on the agenda for the weekend is an attempt at Cake Pops, snagged from Bakerella.com. She's fantastic for the amateur baker, and it always makes me feel better when I can successfully recreate something.

That's what's going on with me over here!

Discovery!

I got my Cuttlebug! And I'm loving every minute of my playtime with it, but in order to really play and get the cards ready for this year, I need paper. I'm about two hours away from the nearest Michaels, so I have to get everything online or via Michigan :\

Anywho, now that I know I have things coming to me, I'm making sure I know all my stuff before I start experimenting. My new favorite website is stamptv.com! It's got a lot of tutorial videos for techniques as well as different ideas and inspiration pictures. That combined with the blogs and other websites, I can't be going in the wrong direction.

This Saturday is also the 'Thanksgiving Dinner' for church, so I will be attempting to make my mom's dressing, which is alway so yummy when she makes it!!! And on Sunday, two teachers I work with will be coming over and taking part in the traditional 1st and 2nd grade christmas ornament making: glitter pinecones. Only these pinecones are NOT the ones us Michiganders are used to. We're talking 6 inches long and at least the same around. Huge, and they're gonna be so much fun to make. (as long as we don't stab ourselves with them too much, they're sharp) And of course I have to make some sort of sweet for it, which means my Apple Struesel Cheesecake Bars are going to make their first appearance in Hawthorne!

Verdict: The brownie cupcakes - fail. More like brownie bricks :(

The waiting game

So I'm out in Nevada, teaching K-12 music, which is exhausting at times, but completely doable. My only drawback aside from being 2200 miles away from all my friends and family is the fact that I couldn't take much with me. Mom is sending weekly packages thanks to the USPS Flat-Rate boxes so I'm slowly getting things that I need, but couldn't take with me. The problem is that not much of my crafting stuff will fit into those boxes. Not to mention that she doesn't know what most of it is. So....

I don't have any of my crafting supplies with me. I have two projects that came with all the pieces and parts, but that doesn't leave any room for me to be creative. That means I don't have any of my card pieces or jewelry supplies and I want to do it again. :(

HOWEVER, I've discovered something wonderful: Cuttlebug!!! I originally wanted a Cricut, but then saw the price tag and decided it would be something to invest in a bit later down the road... But the Cuttlebug was more in my price range, and it's not another thing I have to plug in to run it. Which, considering that the power decides to cut in and out over here a lot, is nice.

So now I wait. The Cuttlebug along with some dies and embossing folders are in the process of being shipped to me! It's like Christmas in... October/November... kinda. Anyway, I can't do much by way of crafting, aside from showing you those two projects that have been on hiatus for a while, and I'll get those up soon, but until then, it'll just be some baking, which I intend on getting some cupcake brownies done this weekend. Stay tuned!

Here goes nothing!

Ever since I moved out here, aside from teaching and finding furniture, there has been a whole lot of nothing going on. I love to bake/cook and craft, so I'm going to attempt something new each week! Some might work and some might not, but I'm gonna try. This isn't going to be some take from Julie and Julia, only my need to be creative and do something other than watch TV.

So let me know what you think, and I love getting ideas, so please send them my way! Recipes, craft stuff, anything!