A Felt Cherry Pie and a Baby Outfit

Yesterday, my sister-in-law told me I had to look at Martha Stewarts website and see the felt food they made. So, I did, and I immediately downloaded the template and went to the store and bought all the supplies. I also ended up ordering the templates of a bunch of other foods from the lady that was demonstrating. You can find her site here. Anyway, it was fairly easy, the most time consuming part was a little hand stitching. It's not perfect, but it turned out pretty cute, right? My daughter, Jaci, loves her play kitchen, so I made it for her to play with.

Also, I made this a little while ago for my friend that was having a baby. I didn't want to post it before now just in case she saw it, but...she's in the hospital right now and she just had her baby (yay!) so I think it's safe. I love this little outfit! I found the onsie and I cut it off and added the skirt and then added a band and elastic to the bottom to make a diaper cover. Jane (the baby's mom) said she didn't want too much pink, so I was excited to find this onsie, with only a little pink! Welcome, Halle! We're excited to meet you!

Bow Board

I am finally posting one of my non-food related projects. I have several more, but I'm not good at taking pictures of clothes and my daughter will never pose so you can see what she's wearing. So, for now, here's this bow board. I saw one of these at one of my all time favorite stores, Ribbons and Lace. It is an amazing store with rows and rows of (you guest it) ribbons and lace!

It was super easy! I got a 16 x 20 canvas and then you basically just hot glue ribbons down it. I also did one across the top and painted the title "Jaci's Bows" on it. Then I hot glued a ribbon all around the side edge, so you wouldn't see the other ribbon ends. I used the colors that are in her room, so it would match everything. I think it turned out cute!

It also makes her bows (all of which I've made) that are usually scattered about all over the house look more like a piece of artwork or something. I'm all about getting things organized and decluttered these days, so this bow board is just the thing! I also hung a star peg I've had for hears next to it to put all her necklaces on it that my sister-in-law made. (She's in the process of getting her "Heartbaby Boutique" blog back up. I'll let you know when it does.) She makes the cutest things!

My next project is to get my sewing cabinet up and running. My husband's cousin was getting rid of an old computer cabinet so he let us have it. My goal is to get it situated adn all set up with my sewing machine, serger, and all my sewing supplies. Once that gets done, I'll be able to get sewing again. I have several unfinished projects and hundreds of ideas! They'll be coming soon!

Cookie Dough Brownies

This is another copycat recipe that I found on a couple of other blogs including Bakerella and The Girl Who Ate Everything, but they originally come from Betty Crocker. Don't worry. I'll be putting my own recipes on here soon! These I also made for our ward linger longer on Sunday. They, like the brownie bites, were a hit! Anything that looks a little different or out of the ordinary usually get people curious and want to try! These not only are a copycat recipe, but a cheater recipe too. They take all of 5 minutes to put together. The recipe calls for a Betty Crocker chocolate chip cookie mix. I didn't have one on hand, and my grocery store had every kind, but that kind, so I cheated extra and used the log of refrigerated dough. It worked out well though and then I didn't have to get another bowl dirty!

Cookie Dough Brownies

from Betty Crocker

1 box of your favorite brownie mix

1/3 c. vegetable oil

1/4 c. water

2 eggs

1 pouch chocolate chip cookie mix

1/2 c. butter, softenend

1 egg

1 container chocolate frosting

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 9 x 13 pan with foil and then spray the bottom with cooking spray. Make brownie mix as directed on the box using oil, water and 2 eggs. Spread in pan.

Make cookie mix and directed on pouch, using butter and 1 egg. Drop dough by rounded tablespoonfuls evenly into brownie batter; press down slightly.

Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpickinserted 2 inches from side of pan comes out almost clean. Cool on rack 30 minutes. Frost with frosting. When completely cooled lift out of pan with foil and place on cutting board (this makes cutting the bars much easier) Cut into 8 rows by 6 rows.

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

Okay, I've been told that there's a theme to my baking...peanut butter. I have to admit that is true. Peanut butter is probably my favorite ingredient to use in desserts. Just about everything tastes better with peanut butter. However, after this recipe I am going to try to broaden my horizons and NOT use peanut butter for a while. Although, I promised someone I'd make them a frozen peanut butter pie soon, but that doesn't count.

Anyway, I was asked to make a dessert for our ward linger longer yesterday. I wanted to do something yummy, but I wanted it to be kind of quick and easy since I just got back from vacation and my house was still a disaster! I found these little gems on one of my favorite food blogs, The Girl Who Ate Everything. They were super easy and "SEW TASTY"!!! This was totally a cheater recipe since I didn't have to hardly actually MAKE anything.

Peanut Butter Brownie Bites

1 box of your favorite brownie mix

1/4 c. water

1/3 c. vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 c. peanut butter

1/4 c. powdered sugar

garnish: peanut butter chips and chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a mini muffin pan with liners and set aside. In large bowl, combine brownie mix, water, oil and eggs until well incorporated. Drop about 1T. batter into each liner and bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Using a measuring teaspoon make an indentation in the top of each brownie bite. Microwate peanut butter for 30-45 seconds until warm and smooth. Add powdered sugar and stir until combined. Fill each brownie indentation with the peanut butter mixture and top with chocolate and peanut butter chips.

P.S. I had to make a little more of the peanut butter mixture, because I like mine a little full!

Nana's Peanut Butter Pie

As my last HURRAH on my "vacation" in Arizona I made a Peanut Butter Pie. My grandma, Nana, asks for one every year for her birthday. Since her birthday is next week, I decided to go ahead and make one (or two) before I left for Louisiana.

The pie is really yummy. It has a layer of peanut butter stuff, a layer of homemade vanilla custard, another layer of peanut butter stuff, and then another layer of custard, and then topped off with a meringue and more peanut butter crumbly stuff.

Nana's Peanut Butter Pie

3/4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 c. peanut butter

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3 T. cornstarch

1 T. flour

1/8 tsp. salt

3 eggs

3 c. milk

2 tsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla

1-9" baked pie shell

1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Combine powdered sugar and peanut butter to make coarse crumbs. Set aside.

In 2 qt. saucepan, stir together 1/2 c. granulated sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. Separate eggs, placing whites in a separate bowl and set aside to warm to room temperature. Add yolks to sugar mixture in saucepan along with milk. With wire whisk, stir until very well combined. Over medium heat, stirring constantly, heat milk mixture to boiling. Cook, stirring 2 minutes longer. Remove pudding from heat, stir in butter and vanilla. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Sprinkle 1/3 peanut butter mixture over bottom of pie crust. Spoon in half of the pudding, then sprinkle another 1/3 of the peanut butter mixture and top with remaining pudding.

Add cream of tartar to egg whites and beat until soft peaks form. Gradually add remaining 1/4 c. sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pudding in pie shell being sure to seal the edge of the pie. Sprinkle remaining peanut butter crumbs on pie to make a border. Bake 8-10 minutes - until meringue is golden brown. Cool completely on wire rack before cutting. Refrigerate.

Ryan's Chicken Enchiladas

While I was in Arizona, my "little" brother begged me for these for almost 2 months. He started his Jr. year of high school on Monday, so I decided to finally make them for him. I don't really have a recipe, I just kind of throw things together, but here goes! The filling is really yummy and creamy and cheesy!!! They are definitely a family favorite that I have to make every time I visit my parents!

Chicken Enchiladas

1 family size rotisserie chicken, shredded

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 large can green chili enchilada sauce

shredded cheese

Flour (or corn) tortillas

Mix soup and cream cheese until creamy. Add chicken and about 1/4 c. enchilada sauce. Mix well. Pour a little enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan to coat. Make a line of chicken filling down the middle of each tortilla and top with shredded cheese. Roll jelly roll style and place in prepared pan, seam side down. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Pour the rest of your enchilada sauce over the enchiladas and top with cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown.

Peanut Butter Balls

This is a recipe my mom found in some magazine and we both had to try it. I made them a couple of years ago and took on a road trip from Utah to Arizona. For some reason last week they popped into my head and I had to make them again!

It is basically a peanut butter mixture dipped in chocolate and rolled in peanuts. This time I decided to try a couple of different coatings on top of the chocolate (mainly because I ran out of peanuts)! My sister liked the plain ones the best, but my favorite are still the ones rolled in chopped peanuts.

Peanut Butter Balls

1/4 c. butter

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1/4 c. milk

3 2/3 c. powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

1 1/2 tsp. shortening

3 c. finely chopped peanuts

Line and 8" pan with foil and grease. Cook butter, peanut butter and milk over low heat until melted. Beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. Remove from heat and pour into prepared pan. Cool completely. Roll into 3/4" balls and refrigerate until firm. Melt chocolate chips and shortening together in microwave. Stir until smooth. Dip balls in chocolate mixture and roll immediately in chopped peanuts. Cool. Store in airtight container.

Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

In the future I'm going to name these Kelcie's muffins. Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins is just too long, and my younger sister, Kelcie, has eaten 3 in the past hour. I got this recipe from my mom's friend, Jennifer, and I adapted it a little bit. The result was a perfectly soft and fluffy tasty muffin. I'm not normally a big banana person, but these are delicious!

I had to add this picture of my daughter "helping" me put the chocolate chips on top. She kept grabbing a chocolate chip and a large pinch of dough and eating it!

Kelcie's Muffins

1/2 c. butter, softened

1 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. creamy peanut butter

1 tsp. baking soda dissolved in 1 T. HOT water

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 c. flour (can use whole wheat flour)

3-4 smashed ripened bananas

1/2 c. mini chocolate chips + more for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

To mashed bananas, add butter, peanut butter, sugar, egg and vanilla and mix until well combined. Add soda water and stir in flour and baking powder.

Put into greased or lined muffin tins and sprinkle with chocolate chips. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Pops' Ranger Cookies

Okay, so here's the story on these cookies. When my dad was in High School a girl who liked him made him these cookies called "Ranger Cookies". My dad kept the recipe and my mom had it in her files. I made them for him a few years ago and he immediately knew what they were. So, I'm visiting my parents right now and I decided to make these for my dad, but I couldn't find the original recipe anywhere. So, I went online and searched for Ranger Cookies and came up with a bunch of recipes that were all pretty similar. I then asked my dad what he remembered were in them and adapted the recipe.

These cookies aren't super sweet. They are fairly stiff and hearty. They came out pretty good though. They have a little crunch and they came out soft in the middle.

Pops' Ranger Cookies

1 c. shortening

1 c. sugar

1 c. packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 c. flour

2 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. shredded coconut

2 c. corn flakes or frosted flakes

1 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream shortening with sugar and brown sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until fluffy. Add baking soda, salt, baking powder and flour; mix well.

Stir in oats, coconut, cereal and chocolate chips.

Drop onto parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for about 12 minutes.

German Chocolate Bars

Anything "German Chocolate" always reminds me of my dad. Every year for as long as I can remember he always has German Chocolate Cake for his Birthday. For some reason I'm not a big fan of cake. Most of the time it is too dry. I like cake if it is really really moist. But, I LOVE the coconut pecan frosting that goes on the cake. I make it and put it on just about anything, including ice cream, brownies, cookies...anything. Anyway, I came across this recipe for German Chocolate Bars and thought I'd give it a try. It is super easy and only has 5 ingredients! The bottom is like a cookie and the top is like a brownie, with the frosting in the middle. This is a totally semi-homemade recipe since it uses a boxed mix and a jar of the store bought frosting, but it tastes totally homemade. That's the best kind of recipe when you don't have to do all the work, but you can take all the credit!

German Chocolate Bars

2/3 c. butter softened

1 box German Chocolate Cake mix

1 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 containter Coconut Pecan Frosting

1/4 c. milk

Heat oven to 350^o. Lightly grease 9 x 13 pan. In medium bowl, cut butter into cake mix, using pastry blender, until mixture looks like fine crumbs. Press half of the mixture into bottom of pan. Bake 10 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips over baked layer. Drop frosting by tablespoonfuls over chocolate chips. Stir milk into remaining cake mixture. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto frosting layer. Bake 24-28 minutes or until cake portion is slightly dry to touch; cool completely. Refrigerate until firm. Cut into bars.

Peanut Butter Polka Dot Bars

These babies are SO good, but they are pretty rich, so I cut them pretty small. My husband and I went on a picnic with 3 other couples a couple of months ago and I was in charge of the dessert. Surprise, surprise!!! They guys LOVED them. They couldn't stop raving about them and kept telling me I should sell them.

I love the soft, creamy, chocolatey filling in these bars! Of course, anything with chocolate and peanut butter is amazing in my book! Plus, I love Reese's Pieces. These are the ultimate chocolate/peanut butter bar. They are sure to be a crowd pleaser!

Peanut Butter Polka Dot Bars

¾ c. butter, softened
¾ c. creamy peanut butter
2 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ½ c. quick rolled oats
2 ½ c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 1/3 c. mini Reese’s Pieces

CHOCOLATE FILLING:
½ c. butter

2/3 c. Hershey’s cocoa

1/3 c. sugar

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

For bars: Beat butter, peanut butter and brown sugar until well blended. Add eggs and vanilla; beat thoroughly.

Stir together oats, flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture. (Dough will be thick.) Remove 2 c. dough; set aside. Press remaining dough onto bottom of 9 x 13 pan.

Prepare chocolate filling by melting ½ c. butter. Stir n cocoa and 1/3 c. sugar. Add sweetened condensed milk; cook, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick. Remove from heat; stir in 1 ½ tsp. vanilla extract. Spread filling evenly over dough. Sprinkle candy pieces evenly over filling. Crumble reserved dough on top.

Bake 25 minutes or until top is golden brown. (Chocolate will be soft.) Cool completely in pan on wire rack; cut into bars.