I Love Bread too Oprah! ...

... it's all about the bread, bout the bread, bout the bread!
A few of my recent creations...

 

Look at my JJ!

He loves my "Piggies"!

I saw them on Pinterest but made them my own- they taste like bbq! Sorry not sharing that recipe yet! ;)

Can you believe he is 8 already?!!  Happy Birthday JJ!

I made his crazy birthday cake but cake is another post!

 

Easy Bread Recipe

 In mixing bowl combine:

2 C flour

1 tbsp yeast

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

approx. 1 C warm water

( adding more water if necessary to make thick batter)

Stir until well mixed. Cover with plastic and let rise for about 1/2 hour in

warm place.  My tip if it's winter I will put the bowl in a larger bowl of warm water to help  

rise the dough and keep it warm, replacing the water when it's cold.

Scrape dough down with a fork and put on floured board, divide in half.  

Flour gently and work into a shape or put into

greased pan or glass bowl to rise again and then bake.  

Bake at 350 for approx. 30 minutes.

This is a basic recipe - I have added herbs, cheese, lots & lots of garlic...more sugar...

For a softer sweeter dough use milk & add a few more tablespoons of sugar!

As you can see I've tried a few things I've seen on my beloved Pinterest.  I've

got a great Board called "Rollin' In Dough". 

Easy to make it in the morning and bake it for dinner!

Make it a great day!

 

 

Sweet Things...

My 1st Painted Cake goes to my new Daughter-in-Law Chelsea Campbell!

Happy Birthday Chelsea!

 

(7-Up Confetti Cake with Lemon Butter Cream Frosting - it's a party on the inside! )

 

I had so much fun painting this cake that I can't wait to paint another one.  My son likes to bake and suggested we go into business!  Said he'll bake and I paint.   The idea of a CFL (Cottage Food Operations License) has been tossed around this house for the last 6 months or so.   I took a cake decorating class "many many Moons ago" as my Dad would say.  (That's really the only Indian thing he has ever said now that I think about it. hahaha Another story for another time.) Anyway!  I enjoy decorating them but not so much baking them, I'm more of a cook than a baker, so it could work.   Cakes are swirling around in my head.  Pumpkins with Pumpkin Spice, Roses with Red Velvet,  Carrots with Carrot Cake, Poinsettia & Holly, Sunflowers, Hydrangea, Trumpets, Shamrocks, Robots,.............Angels!   (Did she say robots?)

I painted this cake with regular food coloring. I know there are cake paints on the market that are very much like acrylic paint,  but have never looked at them but be assured I will be getting some soon! I started with new paint brushes, a flat brush & a liner brush.  Watering down the food color a little and painting from light to dark just like water colors, adding layers of color worked out best & was less stress, too much color and your design could be done for, or at least your fondant.  I used the flat brush like a calligraphy pen for the writing and then went over the top with the liner brush. If your brush gets too wet and a lot of color goes on it's easy to fix though, just dry your brush to use it to mop up the extra color like a little sponge.   I learned a lot from this little cake.  Green & red make brown & black depending on the intensity of either color. So one box of ordinary food color will make just about any color that you need.  If ever I make another lemon cake I will stipple the little lemons on the bottom to give them some texture.  I chickened out when it came to writing on the cake. I folded under the pressure...I only had 1 box of fondant....I didn't want to ruin it... so I made the banner.

Of course I have already started a little book of cake illustrations & ideas. I did each of these in a matter of minutes, but if time was taken to properly draw them out,  I think these could be cool & fun to paint. Paintings of Painted cakes......

 

Yes I will make a cake for you! 

 

Life is getting Sweeter...

 

 



Ta Da I Tried It Thursday...

... I tried several things this week.  Having a purple thumb, actually I should say yellow thumb because that's the color all my plants turn before I kill them off. hahaha  Coming home from the grocery with 2 bunches of celery, I remembered seeing this Pin on Pinterest and decided to see if it would really work.  I washed the celery cut the bottom off (cut the rest up & put in water for snacks in the frig) then I removed some stalk pieces then placed in a little water & set it in the window.  Well to my surprise it does look like I'm growing more celery! In just a few days there were new leaves. When it has more roots I'm going to try planting it outside. I placed it a glass on top of a tiny antique hand painted plate. I have a set of these & I love them. I always look for them in antique shops & thrift stores. I am never afraid to use my antiques or vintage items. I use them & enjoy them. 

Another thing I tried this week is Chocolate Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies,  a No Bake, No Fat, Gluten Free Cookie Recipe. My mother has made these all my life, only this recipe you can make in 5 minutes start to finish in the microwave instead of boiling on the stove.  The recipe says 20 min but that's just crazy talk unless you are walking to the store to get your ingredients! Here is the Pin & Recipe.  It was so quick & simple, & such a small batch that I decided to experiment with it.  I replace 1/2 of the sugar with Stevia In the Raw and they still turned out great.   I also made a batch using 3/4 C of oatmeal instead of 1/2 C, even better!

Ta Da!

Nuts For These...

...Peanut Butter Cookies. I am not a cookie person but Hubby is & he has to eat cookies every night. Makes me mad he stays so thin too.  It used to be HoHo's but that's another story. haha He is a cookie connoisseur and I was surprised he loved these cookies I made today.  For years, I have made my "cake mix cookies" -  Devil's Food Chocolate cookies, not his favorite really, but I will make them because they are quick & easy and it's usually when he is out of store bought cookies, so I throw them together in a hurry. My sons & other people really like them though.  I experimented with other flavors of mixes with the oil & eggs but he never liked them. I never thought of adding peanut butter either.  I stumbled onto this recipe and had to try it since it was my recipe with peanut butter added to it & using a Yellow Mix rather than Devil's Food, which might be good too.  Peanut butter cookies are probably my least favorite cookie, but they were so pretty I had to taste one. I have to say these were pretty good!

1 Yellow Cake Mix

1 C Peanut Butter

1/2 C Oil

2 Eggs

Mix together well.  Bake at 375 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Super Simple, Quick & Easy! Aren't they pretty?!

What Day Is It ?!

...I can't believe I haven't posted in so long. So sorry faithful Followers! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is enjoying the season so far. Mine was very nice and the Christmas spirit hasn't fully kicked in with me yet. So as usual I am behind in my shopping that has to be mailed. The year started with good intentions and I had acquired 1 gift by March, but that's as far as I got. *patting myself on the back anyway* The spirit will kick in though, I'm sure of it. Hubby decorated the tree & did a lovely job. I have to dig into the boxes before they dissappear back into the shed. I thought if the spirit really hit me I could do another Christmas Tour video until I realized that it would be pretty much the same as the last one. hahaha
This reminds me I have got to start thinking about what to bake for Christmas!

To See New work listed on Ebay: Click HERE

Butt Of Course!

I saw these cute Valentine treats at Craftster and had to share, if you gonna be naughty why not make it fun right? They are fun, the guys like them. I may make them some for Valentine's day. Would you munch these down or would you think about where the cookie is gonna end up... on your butt? Hey! Good diet idea...make all your favorite foods look like your large body parts thus curbing your appetite & shrinking your real body parts...
Keeping this post short & sweet. I've got lots to share & lots to thank on an upcoming post which will be titled "Crochet Is Comfort Food With Out The Calories" so stop back by & thanks for following!