My Next Craft

Guys, I'm so excited about my next craft!!

Scrabble Tile Pendents!

You can do so many cool things with this! If anyone else tries it before I get to, let me know how it goes!

"Leave the Milk Out!" Cookies

So I'm not a huge cookie fan. But my husband and kids are. So I tend to make a lot.

The first time I made these cookies, I tested one with milk and let my husband try it. I went back into the kitchen to put the milk away, he yelled, "JUST LEAVE THE MILK OUT!" And he proceeded to eat about half the batch while standing in the kitchen.

They're good. They're really good.

Bonus? I've included substitutions for turning these chocolate chip cookies into white chocolate macadamia nut (which, by the way, I DO love).

Ingredients:
2 cups All-purpose Flour
¾ teaspoons Baking Soda
½ teaspoons Baking Powder
½ teaspoons Salt
1 cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
1 cup Light Brown Sugar
1 whole Egg
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
8 ounces, weight Chocolate (white, Dark, Milk--your Choice) Baking Squares, Chopped Into Chunks
¾ cups OPTIONAL Roughly Chopped, Toasted Macadamia Nuts

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in small bowl.

Using a mixer, beat the butter in a large mixing bowl until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add the brown sugar and beat until smooth. Add egg and vanilla, then scrape sides with rubber spatula.

Blend in flour mixture in three stages and stir in chocolate (and optional nuts).

Scoop out walnut-sized (I use a melon baller) balls of dough onto baking sheet, leaving 1-2″ between mounds. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until bottoms are slightly golden and tops are still a light color. Remove from sheet and transfer to cooling rack.

Makes approximately 48 small cookies.

Promises, promises.

I know I promised you all a delicious salted caramel chocolate chunk brownie recipe. I know I still haven't delivered. Honestly, I think about it way more than I should. It's like, housework, schmousework, I need brownies.

But I haven't gotten around to trying out the recipe that's in my head. Why? Because I've fallen in love with my sewing machine. We're totally MFEO. I wound my first bobbin and I haven't looked back. I feel like I could take on the world. A sewing machine-sized world.

Now I'm throwing around terms like shirring and the idea of covering everything in my house with ruffles. It's bad, guys. Send help ...ers. Send helpers who will refill my water and make me eat because Momma's a one-track mind right now. Currently that track is taking me to Thread Town and Sewing City. Hop on board!

But brownies will come. If only because I promised to use them as currency and my dear friend won't let me forget.

So, soon, friends! Soon there will be chocolate. And it will be GOOD.

"Why Don't You Ever Make ME Anything?"

For my son, who so impatiently politely asked why I only ever sew things for his sister.

I give you, the 20-minute fishy shirt.

I started with one of my old t-shirts:

And cut it up by using one of his shirts as a pattern. I kept the bottom hem to make it easy on myself. Then I just sewed it all together. It was actually really easy.

Until I realized I didn't know what to do for the neckline. Keep in mind, this was GOING to be for his first day of school.

But it's clearly not EXACTLY first-day worthy.

Ignore the steak sauce on his chin.

It makes an excellent sleep shirt, though :)

Ready for School

My kiddo is starting school this year. I am beyond excited for him.

In what can only be described as THE BEST CITY PLANNING POSSIBLE, we had a new outlet mall open last weekend, which coincided with school starting this week AND tax-free weekend. It was awesome.

At least, I'm sure it would have been, but I wasn't there.

We were here:

Hello. I miss you.

I don't do road trips. This one was only 4 hours away, but even that's a little far for my taste. However, the trip was fantastic. We all had a great time. I'm glad I took today off work to recuperate, since half my family is now sick.

Plus, I had shopping to do.

Not a bad job for $40. I am officially in love with the outlet mall. The only downside is that this lovely gem has come into my life when my husband is going back to school full time and our budget is so strict that Dave Ramsay is jealous he didn't come up with it.

Still, it was a great weekend, a great trip to the mall and a great haul away. And in three days, my little man will be rocking his new clothes as the hippest Pre-Ker at HP!

To My Son

Five years ago today, I was at work and standing up at my desk, with papers in my hand. I twisted around to hand them to the girl who sat next to me, when all of the sudden, I felt the MOST BIZARRE feeling in my stomach. Like someone tickling me on the inside. Or butterflies' wings fluttering in my stomach. It was so different and so unexpected that I sat down, dropped the papers and said, "WHOA." I sat there for about a minute, just reeling from this fluttering. And then I knew. It was you.

You were the most amazing thing I'd ever felt.

Five years later — today — was your last day of daycare before you start big-kid school. It's crazy how quickly it's gone by. You still amaze me. I love you so much and am so excited for you to take this next step. I'm not even sad that you're growing up — not today, anyway.

But in a week, love, I won't be surprised if I feel a few more butterflies as I watch you walk into school for the first time. I hope it's the most amazing thing you've ever done.

I hope everything you do is.

I love you,
Love, me

Dreaming of Fall

If the fact that this is my second pumpkin recipe post in as many weeks is any indication, then it's clear that my mind has sworn off this oppressive heat and is vacationing in the future of fall.

Warm colors, cool air -- and DELICIOUS pumpkin desserts. Sigh.

I miss you fall. Come home soon.

In the meantime ...

Sweet Pumpkin Turnovers


Ingredients:
2 cans (8 Oz. Can) Crescent Roll Dough
1 can Pumpkin Puree (15 Oz. Can)
2 teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice
2/3 cups Sugar, Plus 2 Tablespoons
Sprinkles Of Brown Sugar
1 whole Egg White
1 Tablespoon Water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice and sugar. Set aside.

Open crescent rolls and lay them flat on a floured surface. Roll it out to about 12″ x 12″. Using a pizza roller, make three vertical slices, each 3″ apart, then three horizontal slices, also 3″ apart. This will leave you with sixteen 3″ x 3″ squares.

Sprinkle the dough with some of the brown sugar and spoon approximately 1 tablespoon of the pumpkin mixture into the center of each square.

Fold to make a triangle and crimp edges with a fork. It’s okay if they don’t close all the way or stay tight. The dough will puff in the oven and make the turnovers open a little anyway. (You can be more precise about it, but the mixture doesn’t run, so I never care too much!)

In another bowl, mix the egg white and water and brush over top of the turnovers. Sprinkle with more brown sugar.

Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Serve and enjoy!