Sweets!

Another yummy recipe from the Barefoot Contessa!!

How Easy is That! cookbook

Fleur de sel Caramels!

This is the candy solution.

You will add this cream mixture to the candy solution

once the candy solution becomes a golden brown.

Then you will cook some more. Until it reaches a caramel brown and 248 degrees.

You will need a candy thermometer (Michael's has them use a 40% of coupon!)

You pour it into a parchment lined pan and chill.

You cut it in half and roll into a log.

Then cut to desired size and sprinkle with salt.

We did not have the special fine fleur de sel...so we used a little sea salt.

Madeline was the candy maker!

The recipe was only supposed to make 16 candies!

They were way too big.

We cut them much smaller and made approx. 40.

Wrapped individually in parchment paper they were a sweet treat.

Wouldn't this be a good little treat

to put in little valentines bags for your friends?

Recipe:

Vegetable Oil

1-1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1 cup heavy cream

5 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1 t. fine fleur de sel, plus extra for sprinkling

1/2 t. vanilla extract

Line an 8 inch square pan with parchment paper allowing it to drape over 2 sides, then brush the paper lightly with oil.

In a deep saucepan (6 inches wide and 4-1/2 inches deep,) combine 1/4 cup water, the sugar, and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Boil until the mixture is a warm golden brown. Don't stir --- just swirl the pan. Watch carefully as it can burn quickly at the end.

In the meantime in a small pot bring the cream, butter and 1 tsp fleur de sel to a simmer over medium heat. (note we used salted butter and eliminated the fleur de sel in this section) Turn off the heat and set aside.

When the sugar mixture is done, turn off the heat and slowly add the cream mixture to the sugar mixture. Be careful it will bubble up violently. Stir in the vanilla with a wooden spoon and cook over medium low heat for about 10 minutes, until mixture reaches 248 degrees (firm ball) on a candy thermometer. Very carefully (it's hot!) pour the caramel into the prepared pan and refrigerate for a few hours, until firm.

When the caramels are cold, pry from the pan onto a cutting board. Cut the square in half. Starting with a long side, roll one piece of the caramel up tightly into an 8 inch long log. (It is stiff....it ends up being folding in thirds more than a roll...just do your best.) Repeat with the second piece. Sprinkle both logs with a little salt. Trim the ends and cut into desired size pieces. Individually wrap in glassine or parchment paper. Ina says to store in the refrigerator and serve cold. We stored them in the pantry...they were a little softer to eat.

Enjoy!

Canvas Sign

Do you remember the post last year about making a one word canvas?

Well Madeline put one together for her room.

She printed the letters in the size and font she wanted on the computer.

Than she traced them using a light box onto scrapbook paper she had printed out.

(I had her trace the letters in reverse on the back of the paper so you wouldn't

see the drawn lines. If you don't have a light box a window would work well too.)

This was a little tedious but she did a great job!

Then she mod podged them onto a canvas she had already painted.

The trickiest part getting the letters centered and straight.

Here they are in her room.

Still thinking about what adornments we can add to the signs.

Also, will be filling empty quadrants with some other crafts she is working on.

She is a crafty girl!

Valentine Craft

We made a little Valentine Craft.

The idea came from my good "friend" Martha Stewart.

For complete directions go here.

Picture above from Martha Stewart.

This was a fun craft. All you need: old crayons, wax paper and an iron.

We found that a hand held pencil sharpener worked best.

(We tried a vegetable peeler too...but the pencil sharpener worked a little better.)

I did not photograph all the steps but basically you shred the crayon,

fold the wax paper over,

iron and then cut out the shapes you want.

Remember complete directions are on the Martha Stewart website link above.

We decided to display it a little different.

Sort of like a mobile over Ellie's bed.

We punched holes in the hearts

and hung them with embroidery floss from and embroidery hoop.

We also added some bejeweled pipe cleaners for added bling!!

La Jolla!

We enjoyed some beautiful weather this weekend!

The girls and I went tide pooling in La Jolla on Saturday!

It was warm! Near 80!

Ellie liked this little gorge!

Ellie playing in the gorge!

There were tons of hermit crabs and sea anemones.

More gorge playing!

Ellie is not always cooperative in taking photos, so Madeline mimicked her!

The green algae was just incredible.

We walked way out on these rocks.

Fortunately the algae wasn't as slippery as it might appear!

Hope you had a good weekend!

What inspires you? Pass it on!

Let me start by saying not sure why everything is being underlined. It is late and I can't figure out how to turn it off....oh well here we go!

Do you like to sew?

Would you like to learn to sew?

Wouldn't you want to shop in fabric stores like these?

City Craft, in Dallas, Texas

Not a box store like Joann's or Beverly's.

The Stitch Lab, Austin, Texas

But one of these unique stores or as they are sometimes referred to as boutique stores

with lots of charm!

The picture above is from Maisonette; this store is within driving distance!

It is actually owned by a mother and her two daughters each with their own specialty, art, sewing and photography.

I am going to go here. Soon.

This store above is called Whipstitch.

It is in Atlanta.

Probably won't be going here anytime soon.

But...

I am following her blog.

There are two entries of interest here....

First I signed up for a Sewing Buddy.

What is this you may ask?

It is a sewing pen pal.

I want to start sewing more this year!

You can read all about it here.

Maybe you would like to join too, she is still accepting applicants.

The second entry of interest can be found here.

It is about sewing with kids.

The connections that can be made when working on a project together.

She is going to start posting projects for kids.

I learned to sew when I was a kid.

I remember my mom sewing my clothes.

I remember my great-grandmother visiting

and I got to stitch by hand with a needle, thread and a paper bag.

Later I took home ec in middle school,

more sewing classes in high school,

I even squeezed a class in during college.

I worked at a fabric store one summer.

Talk about feeding a habit.

I took a quilting class when my husband was deployed (it kept me busy at night after the kids were in bed!)

Unfortunately here in California Home Ec has been lost in budget cuts.

Madeline wants to learn to sew.

I am going to try and teach her.

We are going to designate a day/afternoon.

We are going to start Friday.

First project a pillow.

I can't wait to see what the kid projects are from Whipstitch,

she said although they are geared for the young

she said she and some friends would enjoy doing them too.

So check it out maybe there is something you will want to try.

Maybe with your daughter?

Red Velvet Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

So Madeline decided we should try the Red Velvet Cupcakes with the Cream Cheese Frosting from Ina Garten's new cookbook How Easy Is That?

(Remember my new cookbook I talked about yesterday?)

A tablespoon of red food coloring, ..... a block of cream cheese, and a stick and a half of butter equals another winner.

As many of you know I like to cook....but I really love baking even more.

I love making things with the kids.

Now that Madeline is older she can do it pretty much on her own.

And now she even helps teach Ellie to cook.

In fact today Madeline and Ellie made these all by themselves!

Ellie is an excellent taste tester!

They look a little browner than they were in real life.

The good stuff....cream cheese frosting!

Another Valentines Day idea?

Yum!

Recipe: Thanks Ina Garten!!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 t. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 t. kosher salt

1 cup buttermilk, shaken

1 T. liquid red food coloring

1 t. white vinegar

1 t. vanilla extract

1-1/2 cups sugar

2 extra large eggs at room temperature

Preheat Oven to 350 and line muffin tin with paper liners (this recipe makes 15)

Sift together first 5 dry ingredients.

In a large measuring cup combine buttermilk, food coloring, vinegar and vanilla.

In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed for 1 minute, until light. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat until combined. With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients alternately in 3 parts, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, and mix until combined. Stir with a rubber spatula to be sure the batter is mixed.

Scoop batter into lined muffin cups. Bake for 25- 30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool completely. Frost with Red Velvet (Cream Cheese) Frosting.

Red Velvet Frosting

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1-1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature

1/2 t. vanilla extract

3-1/2 cups sifted confectioners (powdered) sugar

Place the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on medium speed just until combined.. Don't whip! Add the sugar and mix until smooth.

Christmas Gift!!

Yes, it has been months since I have posted something.

I have a many excuses....holidays, computer issues ....

The real reason is I like LOOKING at blogs.

I think of lots of things to post.

But, tend to go back to browsing at

all the fun things other people are

sewing,

cooking,

crafting,

organizing.

Now I just need to join the fun more regularly and POST.

So here it goes the first post of 2011!

I will give a disclaimer here.

For those of you starting your New Years Resolution with

exercise

eat healthy

or

lose weight

You may want to quick go to another page!

OR

Save this for Valentine's Day when you

are ready to treat yourself for

all your hard work with your healthy resolution.

I got a new cookbook!

Did I need a new cookbook?

Probably not! But... I think maybe I am becoming a cookbook collector.

Not because I planned to be a cookbook collector but because I seem to have

accumulated many cookbooks and there are many more on my wish list.

So the newest one is How Easy is That by Ina Garten the wonderful Barefoot Contessa!

(I have 4 of her 6 books...maybe I need to complete the set! )

So for New Years Eve I tried two recipes from the book the French Mussel Bisque (which quite frankly did not turn out well....there was too much wine. I will try it again substituting chicken broth for wine.)

What was sensational!!?

The Mocha Chocolate Icebox Cake

you can get the recipe along with many other recipes direct from her website here.

I substituted regular coffee grounds for the espresso powder in making this mocha filling.

Yum!

I used a tub of little store bought chocolate cookies purchased from Trader Joe's.

Any thin crisp chocolate cookie will do.

This is sooo easy!!

Whip up the mocha cream. Layer of cookies in springform pan,

Layer of Mocha Cream. Repeat....5 times!

I had cookie helpers!

Pop it in the refrigerator for 6 hours!

Delicious! Reminded me a bit of tiramisu!

This is the photo from Ina Garten's site.....I would have taken my own but we were too anxious to cut into it!!

Enjoy!