Homemade Mozzerella Sticks

Mine didn't nearly look this good these are from tasteofhome.com.  Recipe found here

I ran across this recipe for Mozzarella Sticks quite a while ago and saved it in my bookmarks.  I finally got the chance to use it yesterday when I ventured out to the grocery store solo-I'm used to going with Colby everywhere-so I'm sure I narrated the whole grocery shopping experience out loud like I normally do: "Okay, now let's get some potatoes, do you see the potatoes?" I'm sure I took the cake for the craziest shopper in the store even with all of the holiday traffic.  I had a leisurely shop and discovered just above the carrots there's a tofu section, above the asparagus are egg roll wrappers, and there's a whole isle dedicated to Mexican and Asian delicacies.  So, I picked up some egg roll wrappers, tofu (I've never had it before), and some garlic pepper sauce from the Asian isle (I hope this is politically correct).   I remember my mom making homemade egg rolls when we were little, so I'm looking forward to trying that as well, since the mozzerella sticks weren't amazing. 

So here's mine, I know I know, not that delicious looking, and a fancy camera wouldn't have made them look any better...so basically I just took an egg roll wrapper, placed a hunk of cheese in it and rolled them up, sealing the edges with a bit of water.  I then fried them up in a few tablespoons of veggie oil for about 8 minutes total.  They weren't bad, but I definitely wouldn't say they were finger licking good.  Better luck next time I suppose. 

Mittens Made from Sweaters

Pic from Mossymossy.com and tutorial can be found here.

A few weeks ago I was at the dentist office waiting in the reception area for my appointment.  I over heard my dental assistant going chatting on and on with a woman patient about the mittens she makes out of old sweaters.  The gal was selling her mittens to the office employees and she mentioned how ticked she was that a gal from a church bought a pair, copied them, and then started the whole church making them for fundraising.  The only thought in my head was, "Man, I wish I could just get a glimpse of her mittens so I could make some too."  Well, I never did catch a glance, so I have to resort to the internet.  I found this great tutorial on Mossymossy.com which looks like a really fun blog to peruse through.  The directions look very clear to follow, but I just am waiting for an opportunity to run out to Goodwill and pick up some wool sweaters.  Good Luck if you make these.

Crème-de-menthe Brownie Recipe

This weekend we had a few Christmas parties to go to so my mother in law and I made these minty brownies from a recipe my husband got from a co worker.  They are a bit more intensive than plain brownies but they are far more decadent with a buttery creamy  mint layer and chocolate glaze.  Enjoy.

Crème-de-menthe Brownies

Make brownies as directed on the box except add 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips to the batter before baking. Bake as directed on the box and cool. Do not cut.

Crème-de-menthe layer:

Beat 1/2 cup room-temperature butter or margarine, 2 cups confectioner's (powdered) sugar and 3 tablespoons green crème-de-menthe syrup (found by the ice-cream toppings in the grocery store) in a large bowl with electric mixer until smooth. Spread over brownies.

Chocolate glaze:

Stir 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 6 tablespoons butter or margarine in a saucepan over low heat until melted (I microwave for 1 minute, stir and microwave for 10 second intervals until melted). Cool and then pour over the crème-de-menthe layer (spread evenly). Before glaze sets, sprinkle with coarsely chopped mint wafers (I use chopped Andies mint chocolate candy). Refrigerate until chocolate glaze is set but not hard, and then cut (it's easier to cut this way). Bars are best if kept refrigerated.

Note: I have also sprinkled crushed candy canes on the glaze instead of the chopped mint candy, which makes for a festive holiday treat.

Recipe from R. Larsen

Pecan Turtles

Yum.  I decided to make pecan turtles to share at some Christmas parties we are going this weekend.  We made some this past weekend when I visited my sister and they were so delicious.  They are simple to make.  Take some whole pecans and make a row of three or so on a greased cookie sheet and then place a caramel square on top. Place in oven for 5-7 minutes until melted in an oven at 350 degrees.  When you take them out of the oven just place a piece of chocolate bar on top and it will melt.  After it sits for a bit the chocolate can be smoothed out with a spoon. 

Succulents

Well I have been fortunate enough to plant sit for my  mother in law this winter when they visit Arizona instead of living it up in the snowy tundra.  I absolutely love this bowl of various succulents, I'm looking forward to snagging a few cuttings to make my own little garden.  I've found some really clever ideas for succulents...until then here's some pictures of the amazingly big plants.

Silly Picture

We were up all night last night.  Looks like an ear infection again...we're off to the doctor this afternoon and hopefully he can get some relief.  Until then keep Merry.

Homemade Diapers

It's about that time again to make some more diapers.  I'm working on making a diaper stash for one of my friends I used to live with in college.  I'm finding it harder to do than I thought it would be because I'm more concerned about the diapers actually looking pretty and not just functional.  Of course we just visited back home this last weekend and I waited until the morning we were leaving to start making the diapers-then my machine stopped working so I ended up with 5 fitted diapers and 3 hour glass diapers.  I also am finding it challenging to know what type of diapers to make because I didn't know what kind I wanted until I tried a few different styles out with Colby.  For the diapers I used some recieving blankets I got at a rummage sale for a few cents, an old pair of flannel pants, and some cute fabric from JoAnn when they had flannel super cheap.  I used the pattern Wee Weka from here.  Colby out grew these diapers at about 4 months but they are soooo cute.