Sunday, July 28, 2013

Another recipe we made today, was Jalapeno Cream Cheese Pinwheels!
You take one Pillsbury Crescent Rolls tube, one package of cream cheese, a small can of jalapenos, and some shredded cheddar cheese.
Blend the cream cheese, cheddar cheese and jalapenos together.
With a rolling pin, roll the crescent roll dough into two solid masses. Spread the mixture all over the pressed out dough. Then roll up and cut and bake in oven at 375 for 15 minutes or until golden brown. These are super tasty! If you like spicy, you will love these!

Fun Sugar Cookies to bake this weekend. Amber and I made them. They taste great!
We might do a few things differently next time though.











The end result , pretty, tasty cookies. YUM!
Here is the recipe if you want to try.
Sugar Cookie Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
 
Mix dry ingredient, and put aside.
Blend butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla . Add dry ingredients by thirds to form a ball when holding together.
Chill dough! Roll out and cut out sugar cookies.

For decorative log, divide dough into two balls, and tint one with food coloring.
Roll out each ball. Brush water onto one and place the other on top. Roll tightly and roll in nonpareils. Wrap log in saran wrap and place in frig for one hour.
 
Cut with a thin knife (as not to squeeze dough) and bake.......350 for 10 minutes. When cookies DO NOT look wet any longer, they are done. They are very tasty. Enjoy! Kids would love these, and baby shower treats would work out with either pink or blue for the colored dough! Or team colors, green and yellow, etc. FUN!
 
Roll cookies thinner than we did, and you will have more pattern showing. :)
 

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Painted Bench

 Some fun artsy friends of mine sent me this great bench when we moved into our new home.....that was 8 going on 9 years ago. It has seen better days, and I had repainted it once already a burgundy color.


 
 So it was in need of a make over and I had seen something similar on Pinterest, making the flag out of the slats. I thought, why not get artsy on the bench!??
 So away we went and here it is! I love the brilliant colors and it feels all new again! :) And it is patriotic too. Fun for any season!
 It looks much happier don't you think? Before it was tired, and now it is proud. :)



Thanks for the beautiful bench girls!!!!!

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

 My cone flowers are beginning to open. They are so pretty I feel. The leaves and textured interesting center is amazing.


 Hydrangeas are also open and it is a plant with mixed colors. I just love that .......some blue and some pin and some combined! Wheeeeeee!

 A fancy hollyhock opening , with frilly petals. And my dresser below has lots of color.

Monday, July 22, 2013

 Today at work, a motorcycle pulled up with this little guy riding in the front. The rider (owner) and doggie, Scooter, were smiling ear to ear. He said that the dog has been riding with him for 2 years. See how he has his bike rigged for the pups comfort, for the paws and back legs. His K9 motorcycle glasses are specific for bike riding dogs. He was SUCH a good dog and must I add.............TOO COOL TO BARK!!!!!!!!!!! He sat cool as a cucumber and acted like it was HIS bike. People were drawn to him. The littler Cairn terrier mix biker. Hehehe! Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Cookies

Today I made some cookies.
I saw the recipe on Pinterest and tried them out. They are delicious.
Here is the recipe
Homemade Samoa Girl Scout Cookies
Prep Time: 2 hours
Cook Time: 15 minutes       Makes 3 dozen 2 inch cookies
Ingredients for cookie:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cut out a round cookie and cut out center. Bake at 350 for about 10 minutes or until light golden. Do not over bake. (Next time I might just keep solid, it was very putsy putting the caramel coconut on around the hole.)
 
For the coconut topping:
3 cups shredded sweetened coconut
Bake for 10 minutes in 350 oven turning often with a fork to brown evenly. This can burn quickly so keep an eye on it.
 
Caramel:
15 ounces store-bought or homemade soft caramels
3 Tablespoons milk
Melt until smooth.
Take 1/4th of the amount to the side and pour the rest over the toasted coconut.
Spread the 1/4th onto the cookie and then the coconut w/caramel on top of that. The layer of caramel will act like glue. Move fast as this cools quickly. This goes faster with 2 people working together. If you need to, reheat to continue working.
Chocolate for bottom and top drizzle:
8 ounces dark chocolate or semisweet
Melt and coat the bottom and drizzle over the top.




They will look like this and taste pretty good too. :) Have a good weekend!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Avengers Garage door art mural and more

 So cute this bunny is and the pal, until they are munching down my flowers!!!!! Grrrrrrr! :)
 There are two in our front yard and Rufio was not happy about that.
 Baby birds are hatching everywhere, look at this sweet baby Robin resting on our grate! Awwwwww!
 Rufio and Earl on HOT July 4th.....we took a walk to the lake front.
 Amber and her gal pals enjoying the 4th of July. They are all adorable!!!!!
 We have some neat and freaky dragon flies around here lately. Here it is on my lupine flower.
 The wings look like a cheetah. They are yellowish with those spots and see through. Look below as they are really amazing to see. Smallish, maybe 2 inches long in the body and of course a set of double wings. Do you see how you can see the plants below the wings, you see straight through the wing. Click on the picture and look larger.

 This is my repurposed dresser planter right now. It is doing well now that the flowers have taken hold. This is a fun flower container.
 
Lastly, Rufio in front of our Avengers garage door! I got this artwork done as a surprise for Earl last year. We love this and have a smile every day when we come home thinking about Super Hero's and trying to make each day a bit better.....like the Hulk, Iron Man and Captain America do......stand up for the right and good! :) Be your own Super Hero and brighten someones day!