Crazy Baker

We're having a bake sale Saturday for my daughter's dance team and I thought I would try some new recipes and 1 or 2 "tried-n-trues". I found a recipe for Lemon Poppy Seed Loaves from cooks.com. It calls for fresh lemon zest and fresh lemon juice for the glaze. I "had to" make an extra loaf for home. This is one of my son's favorite breads/muffins.

Our "keeper" loaf of Lemon Poppy Seed Bread 

Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Loaves with Lemon Glaze 

The pumpkin cake with apple cider glaze is a combination of Pinterest (sorry, can't remember the source but more than several people have pinned it) and my own glaze recipe. I've made this lots of times and it's easy with just 2 ingredients, canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) and yellow cake mix. The glaze uses more ingredients! In place of milk, I use apple cider with the powdered sugar and vanilla. So... I forgot the apple cider so I made maple butter glaze. I just made it up as I went along and, YAY!, I remembered the measurements so I could tell you! Two cups of powdered sugar, three tablespoons of maple syrup (in place of some of the milk), one tablespoon milk, one teaspoon vanilla, two tablespoons melted butter. Stir with a whisk.
The sausage/cheese muffins came from makingahouseahome.blogspot.com. I had a hard time finding a recipe that didn't call for cheese soup (not a favorite ingredient of mine and I never have any in my pantry). This one calls for milk but no soup. Bingo!

Pumpkin Cake with Maple Butter Glaze

 

Sausage Cheese Muffins

Mini loaves wrapped and ready to sell

Ready for the bake sale!

My daughter loves to make candy bark so she made white chocolate bark with mini m&ms

Kitchen Table and Something to Serve

I made some cushions for my girlfriend's kitchen table chairs. I don't know about y'all but I just can't sit very long in a hard wood chair and, being Southern, I spend a lot of time chatting at friends' kitchen tables. And, much to my husband's dismay, I mostly just walk in the back door at my friends' houses to chat. Nothing says the South like going in the back door and sitting at the kitchen table. You know it's a stranger if they ring your front doorbell!
I take whatever is handy, usually newspaper or plastic sheeting, to draw my pattern with a sharpie and cut it out. She had the fabric, just had to buy some 2" foam, then I used spray adhesive to attach some sheet batting to the foam to give some extra cush to the cushion. Now we can sit for hours and talk! Well, we did before.... now we can chat at the table.

Last night was experiment night. I had some veggies that needed to be cooked, zucchini, potatoes, and eggplant.  I tossed them with olive oil in a plastic bag. Then, in another bag, I tossed them in a mixture of parmesan cheese, Italian bread crumbs, and garlic powder. I placed them on a baking stone and roasted them in a 425 oven for 20 mins, turning after 10 mins. 

The finished dishes, potatoes in back, zucchini and eggplant in front dish. 

Zuchinni and eggplant, you might want to cook for less than 20 mins if you like your veggies crispier in the middle.

The potatoes took a couple minutes longer. Crispy on the edges, the way I like 'em!

Daffodils and Gloomy Skies

7 Strand scarf, the edges like the petals of a daffodil

Double-wrap bracelet from the sleeve of the t-shirt

Sorry I haven't posted lately. I've had some back issues and I'm not able to sit at the computer or sewing machine long. I've been making these scarves. For one thing, they're pretty trendy right now... and the main reason, I don't have to crawl around on the floor to cut them out! I'm not good at doing nothing when I'm supposed to be resting. I hate wasting good leftovers (fabric or food!) so I used some from my t-shirt quilt trash stash. I cut out enough circles to make 7 strands for this one but, unlike the black one, I didn't sew the strands together in the middle. I figured I'd make this where I could add or subtract as many strands as I'm in the mood for (and the temp outside!). I chose yellow to wear with my grey shirt.

The daffodils have been blooming and this was my inspiration. 

I took the sleeve of the t-shirt, cut 6 strips and braided them together. Sewed on a button and made a button-hole.

 

It's Raining, It's Pouring...

Well, you know the rest...the old man is snoring.  Well, he does that whether it's raining or not! I figured this was the  rhyme that matched closest to my latest projects. Sometimes, I get a run on a certain type of home accessory. The last month has been shower curtains! This one is CUTE with the yellow, cream, and grey color palette. This combo is very trendy right now and birds are too! 

Close-up of the above shower curtain. Sorry, it's blurry. Do not adjust your sets folks! I get in a hurry sometimes and don't check the pic right after I take it. I used "champagne" grommets. We discussed "brushed nickel" but, in the end, the champagne coordinated so much better with the yellow and cream.  

This one was a linen/burlap type of textured fabric with threads of red, blue, gold, black, and cream. running through the length of the fabric.   

Close-up with matte black grommets. I use the 1 1/2 inch grommets in plastic .  They look exactly like the metal grommets but no risk of rusting and ruining the fabric. You can't tell the difference unless you're holding one in your hand! 

I made the floral valance (from my own design) and the tweed-type shower curtain. This one has the clip-on rings.

Large scale houndstooth check for a stand-up shower. 

Scarfin' It Up!

Well, I've had a little free time on my hands, waiting on fabric ordered to come in.  I confess I wasn't sure about jumping on the "scarf bandwagon" when they started to become really popular a couple of years ago. Now there are so many styles to choose from that I think scarves are here to stay... at least for a couple of seasons. You know how fickle fashion is! Anyway, the top photo shows off my scarf made from t-shirt scraps and my new glasses. I haven't worn glasses since I had laser surgery 15 odd years ago (but that's another post sometime). 

Back to the scarf. This photo shows my lovely daughter/model with the t-shirt scrap scarf. Some people call it a necklace or t-shirt yarn. I just call it a scarf from leftovers. I have a lot of scraps leftover from the t-shirt quilts that I make and sell. My clients don't want their scraps back most of the time so I've amassed an assortment. I hate throwing away perfectly good fabric so I found a photo of one on Pinterest. A friend at church was making rugs out of strips of t-shirt "yarn" so I cut the strands for this scarf basically the same, 1 inch wide, but leaving them intact (kind of like a headband or ponytail holder, one big circle). When the strands are cut out, I stitch them so they curl, making a tube. I'm thinking of making a bunch in different colors to sell.  

Lovely daughter modeling the ruffle-y scarf. Found this on Pinterest too. I think the instructions came from DIY Dish (so sorry about being vague, I look at so many things I forget to write it down). Anyway, I tweaked the instructions to suit me. It called for 3 strands but I like 4 or 5. What you do is cut out 6 (or 8 or 10 like I did) 9 inch circles. Then cut them in spirals, making the strip about 2 inches wide. Then attach "middle" ends. She uses fabric glue but I sewed mine. Then I sewed the 4 centers together. I should've taken more photos. Anyway, 8 circles cut in spirals then 2 sewn end to end will make 4 long strands. then take the centers and hand sew to keep the strands together. Ok, here's a close-up of the center sewn together. Then you pull on the strands to stretch them out a little and give the ends a pointy shape. And, ta-da! This is what i do on a goof-off day. I'm thinking of maybe using the leftover sleeves for headbands, maybe cutting strips and braiding them. Stay tuned. I'll post my finished product.   

The Big Enchilada

I love pot luck dinners! We had the National Spotted Saddle Horse Association banquet and I knew there would be a lot of fried chicken and spaghetti. I like to bring something different "to the table", I'm the "different" one. I decided on chicken enchiladas with salsa verde. This is the finished dish (I thought it would look better at the top of the page!). Making enchiladas from semi-scratch isn't hard. The store-bought convenience food was the salsa verde and green enchilada sauce.   

My secret? Cream cheese! Not a lot but just enough to keep the chicken from getting dry, maybe 2 ounces per 4 shredded chicken breasts. Sometimes I add the green salsa, sometimes sour cream, to the cooked, shredded chicken. I warmed the corn tortillas a few at a time, in a damp paper towel in the microwave about 15 seconds. Spread a little salsa verde in the bottom of your baking dish before putting in your rolled enchiladas.  

This makes 10 or 12 enchiladas. Cover them with more salsa verde (or green enchilada sauce or a combination). Pile on the cheese, then sour cream on top. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until melted and bubbly. YUM! I know it doesn't look very healthy but I use fat-free sour cream and I cook the chicken with some cumin and chili powder, not a lot of salt. The fine shredded cheese looks like a lot but sprinkles over the top where it looks like a lot but it really isn't. For those of you watching calories. I say any meal or dish in moderation (not eaten every single day) is ok. This is really good with a green salad and fat-free vegetarian refried beans. Brown rice is good too.  

It's in the Bag!

This is the 2 handle tote bag I made from a recycled t-shirt, webbing handles, and dark denim. 

This is the inside of the 2 handle tote

I made this messenger bag from a recycled t-shirt and recycled blue jeans 

The inside of the messenger bag with a denim cell phone pocket