Tiramisu

A friend of mine told me how to make a very simple, very delicious Tiramisu.

Start out with an Angel Food Cake. I made mine from scratch while the recipe called for a store bought one.

1/2 cup double strength coffee (I used Starbucks, yum)
1 cup whipping cream
3Tbs powdered sugar
1 sm box instant vanilla pudding
2 cups milk
instant coffee granules
baking cocoa

Whip the cream and powdered sugar.





You can make the coffee from instant or brew it as I did.







Mix pudding with milk. Fold whipped cream and pudding together after pudding sets up just a little.

Cut angel food cake in half. Carefully pour half of coffee over cake. Layer half of the pudding/cream mixture over. Place other half of cake on, then repeat layers.
I sprinkled instant coffee granules and unsweetened baking cocoa over layers

 I forgot to take a picture before I put in the toothpicks to keep the plastic wrap up off the cake. But here she is in all her glory.

Lastly, put it in the fridge and wait for at least 6 hours till serving to allow the flavors to blend.

I was going to serve it to friends but those friends had to cancel so my girls and I had a little feast ourselves!




Tips to myself for next time I make it:
In a home made cake, the coffee doesn't soak up as quickly, takes more.
A homemade angel food cake is larger than the loaves from the store so it might be smart to double the filling. Also, because it is lager, cut in 3 layers rather than only 2.

Etsy

I'm now on etsy! I don't know much about it but I'm giving it a whirl and see if I can catch some wind! Check it out... here. If any of you are better informed on how to sell on etsy feel free to let me know what you do. :}

Baked Oatmeal

My girls will squeal, yell, clap their hands and generally put up quite a clamor when I say we're having baked oatmeal for breakfast. I make it when they are sick and won't eat anything else and they get it for every meal of the day! I took these pictures about a month ago but the pan is sitting next to me once again and I remembered I was going to blog it...so.... The original recipe comes from The Best of Country Cooking 1999 but I tweaked it to fit my taste.

3 cups quick cooking oats
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla

Mix all ingredients. Spread evenly in a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350* for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are golden brown. Serve immediately with milk, fruit, brown sugar etc.

Here are my variations: I always bake it in a baking stone which makes it light and fluffy without the "custard", slimy bottom it can get in other pans. The other cool thing with the stone is that I don't have to fill it and it bakes just fine. I don't have the right size for this recipe so I simply don't spread it over the entire pan!

My girls are spoiled and usually have chocolate chips or m&m's. I sprinkle them over the top then pat them down with a spoon. This way they are evenly distributed and I can better control how much chocolate they get!




                                                              While it bakes I have them set the table.



When the timer starts beeping they come running and yelling that the baked oatmeal is finished!

Baked Oatmeal = Happiness at Breakfast!

Paper Dolls

I found these amazing printable (and FREE) paper dolls and thought I'd share for any of you who would like simple joys for your little girls. My Belle was enthralled when I gave her the first one. I think all girls should have a chance to enjoy this simple joy and pass time.

Some enjoy it more than others as shows in the fact that Tori isn't overjoyed by them altho' she will play with them at times.

Click here for web page.

More flowers

Check out...This. I figured it would be easier than trying to make my own blog about it when it's so well done on the original site!

I just finished my version so here are some pictures...

The one on the left is on a hair clip. I found one in my hair supplies, used hot glue to adhere, then with needle and thread, "sewed" it to the beret for added strength.
I think the other one will go on a more simple hair clip so I can use it for Tori who doesn't believe in growing hair yet.
If you can sew, these are very easy. Next time I make them a dress, I'll be embellishing! I just got material at JoAnn's today with little girls in mind.

Home Made Laundry Soap

First off, I had to figure out where to get these ingredients. I was told to check Wal-greens...no luck. After calling around I finally found them rather closer to home than I had hoped...our local ACE Hardware store. I was so happy! The Borax was from Wal-Mart and the Washing Soda and Fels-Neptha from ACE.  Here's how it goes:  Put 4 cups of water in a pan and heat almost to boiling. Shave with knife or grate with cheese grater the bar of Fels-Neptha into pan. The finer the grate, the better it dissolves. Dissolve all the soap. If you don't, you might come across a small slimy lump when you hang up the socks...just a thought.  I previously picked up this bucket from, obviously, Sam's Club bakery for free. They have nice sealable lids. So in this I put 3 gallons of water. Add the dissolved soap-in-water, stir and add 1 cup washing soda. Stir. Add 1 cup borax, stir till all dissolved and well mixed. Let set overnight. It gels up pretty good so stir it up good before you use it....or use it lumpy if you like lumps. Use about 1 cup per load. I use one of those green scoops from a former Tide laundry detergent. That's it!! It's SO EASY! I don't think it took me over an hour and that was with kids so without kids, perhaps 1/2 and hour? How does it smell? I think it has a fresh lemon smell to it. I tried to add about a half a bar of lavender scented soap but the lemon overpowered it and I can't tell it's in there. I'm thinking of trying SOMETHING for scent...just for fun. :) 

Here's the recipe if you don't like to read through my scribbles to get it:

1 bar Fels-neptha  (some say any kind of good bar soap but this is esp good for laundry)

1 cup washing soda (not baking soda, there is a difference)

1 cup borax

Put 4 cups of water in a pan. Heat almost to boiling. Shave soap with knife or grate with cheese grater into water. Stir till all the soap is dissolved.

Put 3 gallons of warm or hot water into a 5 gallon bucket or really big pot. Then mix above water/soap, and washing soda into water. Add borax and stir till all dissolved. Let it set overnight. It will gel so stir again before use. Use about 1 cup water per load of laundry.

For anther great tutorial and a slight variation, go to Living Simply

Flower hair clips

I found this handy dandy idea on a blog...credits will come when I track it down...so commenced to try it. So easy and sooo cute when done!
 I'm not so good at pictures when in process so I'll try to explain.



Find some scraps of material, kinds that will melt easy. White and very light will end up with a brown tinge on the edges.
I cut random (meaning they weren't perfectly symmetrical) circles out of the fabric. Each one smaller or larger than the others.
Then light a taper candle or one that you can easily get to the flame. Melt the edges and lightly the center of the fabric. The fabric will curl and at times the wrong way so, if you don't mind burnt fingers, quickly turn fabric in while still soft and warm-hot. Some I melted more than others to give a more petaled look.

With a glue gun I glued each layer together, smashing the glue flat so there wouldn't be a bump in the center. One of mine I glued a button in the center but the others I simply burned my fingers with a very small piece of fabric.
Then I glued them to a plain hair clip. Best to put glue on open clip then press flower to glue. If it's closed, it's easy to end up with glue blobs where it will catch the hair and that makes little girls yell. (how well I know)
I also made individual petals and glued them to a small, round piece of denim to hold them together. I didn't get a photo of that one. Neither did I think to get pictures of my flowered girls in their Sunday best but I got Belle to model quick in her pjs last night. :)
Another thing you can do is clip it to a head band which is what I do for my short haired little girl. Cut about an inch strip off the leg of a (clean) pair of panty hose or stockings. When you stretch it it will curl up and you won't see the raw edge. Slip around head and put clip in place.
Its called a free hair day! I would have thrown the hose, tossed the too-small-for-any-good material and the clips were lying about unused.
Now, where else can I use these flowers?