Monday, November 29, 2010

Oh the weather outside is...

Yummy rolls!

...cold!  Brr... it has been a cold and long 3 weeks!  I'm finally done moving, and done with Thanksgiving preparations and cleaning! Yay!!!!

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving out there!  I had a good time here.

Yeah...we cheated and used store-bought pie crusts...
Last year my fiance (now husband) and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for our friends who couldn't make it home to be with family, rather than travel to be with our families.  We did most of the preparations last year, but still had a good time.


However...we used farm fresh pie-pumpkins!
 This year we decided to do the same thing.  Things went a lot different but were still just as fun!  We had about 15 people at the meal this year - there were only 6 last year!  Also all my husband and I had to make was the pie and rolls.  We had nearly everyone volunteer to bring or help prepare something! Yay less work for everyone!

 
Sugar and seasonings.

The final product!











The final product! (Part 2!)

Friday, November 12, 2010

Check this out!

Check out the awesome recipes, giveaways, and awesome advice over at Fab Find Foodie!

http://www.fabfindfoodie.com/

Potato Soup :) Mmm...

When it come to simple and easy to make meals nothing can beat a good soup.  I'm looking forward to dinner tonight because I'm making potato soup! Yummy!!!!  It is seriously the easiest recipe for anything I've ever seen.

1. peel and cube potatoes
2. boil until done
3. pour out  most of the water
4. add milk til you have enough liquid for a good soup
5. add 1/4 to 1/2 stick of butter
6. heat til hot
7. enjoy!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Crochet Openwork Handwarmers

Here is the link to the FREE pattern for the comfy handwarmers I made.  I found the pattern on Ravelry.  This is a great pattern for those who are just learning to crochet!  It will help you to learn how to crochet in rounds, and how to keep your gauge even.

I recommend checking out Ravelry if you can.  It is a great place to find all sorts of crocheting, knitting, and few other crafting projects.  There is a good variety of free and to purchase patterns.  You can become involved in various groups and forum discussions as well.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Juelfs (Marcum) Family Sheath Cake

This was "the cake" in my family when I was growing-up.  The recipe I have has been passed down for several generations.  We call it sheath cake or sheet cake - I think they basically mean the same thing...

This was what I made my husband for his birthday cake this year.

2c flour
2c sugar
Mix together in a large bowl.

Melt 1/2c butter and 1/2c shortening (can substitue butter) in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add to this 1c cold water and 4T cocoa. Mix well. Stir constantly until boiling.

Pour boiling mixture over flour and sugar. Stir and add 1t vanilla, 1t cinnamon, 1t baking soda, 1/4t salt, 1/2c buttermilk (can use regular milk), and 2 eggs (add these last).

Bake in a well greased 11 x 15 pan at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes.


About 5 to 10 minutes before the cake is done begin working on the icing. I am listing the original icing recipe below.  My family has always doubled the icing - I highly recommend you doing so as well.

Melt 1/2c butter in same saucepan as before (Yay! Saving on dishes!).  Add 4T cocoa, and 5T milk.  While stirring constantly bring to a boil.

Remove from heat.  Add 1t vanilla.  Add 1c nuts (optional).  Add 5c powdered sugar. (If you are doubling the icing you should use about 1 1/2 bags of powdered sugar)

Pour on to cake and spread evenly.

Enjoy licking the icing spoon! I always do! :D

Let the icing set on the cake for about 30 minutes to an hour before cutting and serving.  

A Candle-Light Dinner of Mac-and-Cheese

The story starts like this...

My husband and I spent this past week moving from a house we rented for the summer to an apartment.  Why move from a house to an apartment?  After talking to the previous renters we decided the heating bill was not worth staying in a larger place.

This past week was also my husband's birthday. Because of the move I did not have time to make dinner or a cake for him. :( At some point during this time we decided to celebrate Saturday evening.  Also a joke was made that he'd be happy with a box of mac-and-cheese for a candle-light dinner.

Guess what I made...

Well, it wasn't the boxed stuff. I do like boxed mac-and-cheese, but for this I decided to raid my fridge.
What I ended up with was basically an Alfredo pasta dish.  I used enough spaghetti noodles to probably serve 6 (I wanted leftovers).  The noodles were cooked with about 1/4 cup of olive oil.  After straining the noodles I added about 1 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese and 1 1/2 cups of skim milk (Lactaid).  You could substitute 2 tablespoons of butter for the olive oil if you wanted - the butter would be added after straining the noodles.

Dinner turned out very well. My husband was kind of surprised that I went with the joke he had made.  :) We had to wait a couple of hours before we had room enough to eat birthday cake! Lol.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

October 2010 Projects

Cthulhu!
 Here are the projects I finished this October!  I'm kinda surprised I got so many done...

First of all...Cthulhu!!! Be afraid! This probably took about...10 hours total to complete. Can you guess the hardest part? It was actually the eyebrow ridge.

I also determined that this pattern could be made as Medusa, an Ilithid (D&D), or an Ood (Dr. Who).


I live in North Dakota. It gets very cold here; everyone knows this... So I decided to make sure I at least have warm hands! These are made out of a cashmere and wool blend. (I'll have to look up the brand. I don't remember off hand.) It takes about an hour to finish a pair.

Waldo's hat in progress.

Where's Waldo?  Actually he's in the picture below! :)  A friend of mine decided to be Waldo for Halloween this year, and I made his hat.  All in all it probably took about 2 hours to finish this hat...but I kept getting distracted by kitties and Star Trek.




Look! I found Waldo!

Monday, November 1, 2010

Happy Halloween! (a day late)

Take a look at these fun Halloween pumpkins over at Cheap Geeks Anonymous!

Moving is so much fun...

Hello.  I've been meaning to put up something fun, but with Halloween being this past weekend and while still in the process of moving I have had no time for anything.  So...Hopefully I'll have something up by the middle or end of this week!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Hello and Welcome!

I'm new to the whole "blogging" thing.  I have followed a few people and have enjoyed learning what they have to share.  I hope to do the same for any who care to read what I have to say.

This is a place where I hope to start off talking about some crafting projects I'm doing, and sharing recipes I enjoy. I'll see what else I can come up with later. :)