Spring Has Sprung!

At least it has inside my house...

My cousin Katie inspired this one, and my friend Lindsay and I made them together. I thought they turned out pretty cute, what do you think?

So Cute!

I went to a boutique today and fell in love with these. I would love to make a mother's necklace out of them after I have more than one child. It just seems silly to me to walk around with a pendant with just an "M" on it when my name starts with "A." I figured it would warrant too much explanation...
Anyway, take a look! So cute!

FABULOUS Oatmeal Choc Chip Cookies!

This is the perfect recipe to cheer up a very stressed husband. Mine loves these cookies, and I love to bake them, so we both win! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!
Recipe makes 3-5 dozen. Depending on how much cookie dough you eat while you're making them, and how big your cookies are.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 C shortening (I use butter flavor-it tastes the best. Oh, and using regular butter is ok too, but your cookies will come out flatter.)

1 1/2 C sugar

3/4 C brown sugar

3 eggs

3 t vanilla

A pinch of nutmeg (this, to me, makes the recipe)
3 1/4 C flour
1 1/2 t baking soda
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 C oats (your preference)
1 package semi-sweet choc chips

1. Preheat oven to 350*. If you have a gas range set it to 370*. Grease your cookie sheets.
2. In a big bowl, cream together the ingredients in red until smooth. This gives you a nice batter to start with. Then add Flour, baking soda, and salt. Beat until mixed thoroughly. Then add oats and chocolate chips. Stir with a rubber spatula to mix in.
3. Spoon onto greased cookie sheets.
4. Bake for 8-10 minutes (at 350*) or 11-12 min. (at 370*)
5. Let cool on cookie sheet for 5-10 minutes, then move to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Tip: Clean as you go! Have hot soapy water ready and toss the tools in as you're done with them. I can have my whole mess cleaned up before the first batch is done! Then you can sit and enjoy the fruits of your labor when they're done, instead of slaving over a sink of messy baked-on dishes!
p.s. It helps to clean the cookie sheets while they're still warm.

Bienvenido!

  Hey all!
This is just a little blog I started to keep track of the crafts and recipes I love to make and share! I am no expert, and would love to learn more about crafting and cooking. This is just a record of my journey...

Tea Towel Bag

Over at Make it and Love it, I found this fabulous Tea Towel Bag tutorial.
I decided to make one for my best friend Raylyn's birthday. If you want to make one for yourself, go here and here. It was super easy, even for me, and I don't sew extremely well. I did however, have a hard time finding cute Tea Towels, so I used cloth napkins I found on clearance at Target.

P.S.

A Tea Towel is a towel that you dry your dishes with. They are flat and cotton and woven instead of terry cloth like a regular towel. They are somewhat thin (thinner than a bath towel) and come in lots of colors and patterns. But usually pretty basic looking. I have seen a variety of projects using tea towels so they are often found in the craft sections of stores but if not, they will be near the kitchen stuff (like hot pads and kitchen decor and such).

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I made this the other day with some too ripe bananas. Oh. My. Heavenly! It is divine! I just have to share!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
1 1/4 C Sugar
1/2 C butter or margarine softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 C mashed bananas (~3medium,VERY ripe)
1/2 C buttermilk (or put 1/2 c milk with 1/2 T lemon juice and let sit for 5 min., then use)
1 C choc chips (or more if you want!)
1 t vanilla
A pinch of nutmeg
2 1/2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
1 C chopped nuts (optional)

1.Set oven to 350* (move oven racks down so top of loaf pan is in the middle of the oven.) Grease bottoms only of pan(s). Makes two 8.5x4.5x2.5 pans, or one 9x5x3.

2.Cream sugar & butter in a bowl together. Stir in bananas, buttermilk vanilla & nutmeg.Beat until smooth, then add flour, baking soda, and salt just until moistened. Stir in choc chips & nuts if desired.

3.Bake 8" loaves about an hour, 9" loaves about 1 hr 15 min. or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool 10 min on baking rack.

4.Loosen sides of loaves; remove from pans and place top side up on wire racks to cool for 2 hours before slicing. Wrap tightly and store at room temp for 4 days, or in the fridge for 10.
Enjoy!

Nutrition info:
1 slice: 70 calories, 2g fat, 15 mg cholesterol, 95mg sodium, 12g carbohydrates, 1g protein
(this is w/out the chocolate chips! I added those separately on a whim and the cookbook didn't call for them.) You'll have to do some adding of your own if you want to know... I think ignorance is bliss on this one, but knock yourself out!