Wednesday, September 17, 2008
An Elf Blog?
It appears that Santa is very much in tune with the computer age! Seems that he wants his Elves to keep him informed by blogging. So...here is our little friends' blog page... http://www.santaseyesandears.blogspot.com/ Be sure to check it out and see what they are up to. So far, they are just getting ready to come visit but after Thanksgiving, things should start heating up! lol
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Fearsome Foursome
With Christmas just around the corner, it's time again for me to contemplate what our mischievous Elves will be up to this year. For some reason, I'm having a really hard time thinking of things for them to do. I fear I may have used up all of my good ideas last year. Yikes!
So far, I'm thinking they'll probably go deep tub diving in a yellow mason jar. They may also take a hot air balloon ride (indoors of course). Since it will be their first year as full on Elves, I have a feeling that they will accidentally drop a gift or two from the sleigh (amateur drivers) and we'll have to go on some wild goose chase to find it. I also think that Sunny and Miles (our cats) will get a rather fancy makeover courtesy of our girl Elves (can you paint kitty claws?). Will have to be sure and hide the shaving stuff! lol Gifts will be left for the little ones and even maybe the big kids (us). :o) I sure hope they leave some crafts for us to do. That'd be really fun!
That's all for now. Lucky for me I've got a couple more months to plan. Otherwise, it'd be a boring visit for sure!
So far, I'm thinking they'll probably go deep tub diving in a yellow mason jar. They may also take a hot air balloon ride (indoors of course). Since it will be their first year as full on Elves, I have a feeling that they will accidentally drop a gift or two from the sleigh (amateur drivers) and we'll have to go on some wild goose chase to find it. I also think that Sunny and Miles (our cats) will get a rather fancy makeover courtesy of our girl Elves (can you paint kitty claws?). Will have to be sure and hide the shaving stuff! lol Gifts will be left for the little ones and even maybe the big kids (us). :o) I sure hope they leave some crafts for us to do. That'd be really fun!
That's all for now. Lucky for me I've got a couple more months to plan. Otherwise, it'd be a boring visit for sure!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Sour Cream Coffee Cake DIBS
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
½ pound butter or margarine, softened (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
¼ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend first 4 ingredients together on medium speed in a medium sized bowl. Sift baking powder, baking soda and flour together in a separate bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the liquid mixture a little at a time, alternating with the sour cream.
In a separate bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Pour half of the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top, and then pour the remaining mixture into the pan. Sprinkle remaining sugar and cinnamon on top. Bake for 50 minutes.
Servings: 8
Note: This can also be made in the miniature bundt pans if you want to give as gifts; put ¾ + 1/8 cup of batter in each one, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of cinnamon mixture on middle and top. Bake at 325°F for 35 to 40 minutes. Works well for the holidays or bake sales.
DIBS Setup: Quart bag: 1 cup sugar (this may fit in snack size bag...not sure). Quart bag: Baking powder, baking soda and flour...I would sift this again when ready to make. Snack bag: 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon Store these together in a seperate container/bag. This is one of my favorites. It's not overly sweet and it has a nice flavor to it. Hope you like it as much as I do! Well, that concludes my portion of DIBS.
Hope the recipes I provided prove to be helpul to you and that they quickly become family favorites. Feel free to let me know how they work out for you...even if you hated them! *gasp* :o)
½ pound butter or margarine, softened (2 sticks)
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
¼ cup sugar
1½ teaspoons cinnamon
Preheat oven to 350°F. Blend first 4 ingredients together on medium speed in a medium sized bowl. Sift baking powder, baking soda and flour together in a separate bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the liquid mixture a little at a time, alternating with the sour cream.
In a separate bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Pour half of the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon and sugar mixture on top, and then pour the remaining mixture into the pan. Sprinkle remaining sugar and cinnamon on top. Bake for 50 minutes.
Servings: 8
Note: This can also be made in the miniature bundt pans if you want to give as gifts; put ¾ + 1/8 cup of batter in each one, sprinkle 2 teaspoons of cinnamon mixture on middle and top. Bake at 325°F for 35 to 40 minutes. Works well for the holidays or bake sales.
DIBS Setup: Quart bag: 1 cup sugar (this may fit in snack size bag...not sure). Quart bag: Baking powder, baking soda and flour...I would sift this again when ready to make. Snack bag: 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon Store these together in a seperate container/bag. This is one of my favorites. It's not overly sweet and it has a nice flavor to it. Hope you like it as much as I do! Well, that concludes my portion of DIBS.
Hope the recipes I provided prove to be helpul to you and that they quickly become family favorites. Feel free to let me know how they work out for you...even if you hated them! *gasp* :o)
Cowboy Cookie DIBS
Cowboy Cookies
1 cup shortening (Crisco)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups quick oatmeal
½ cup nuts
1 (6 ounces) package chips (chocolate, vanilla or butterscotch)
Place shortening, sugars, vanilla and eggs in a bowl and beat. Add flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Mix and beat. Fold in oatmeal, nuts and chips. Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes.
Note: For the 1 cup of shortening, you can also use ½ shortening and ½ margarine.
DIBS Setup: Quart bag: Both kinds of sugar Quart bag: Flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder Quart bag: Oatmeal, nuts and chips Again, I would put everything together in a larger sized bag or a tupperware-type container.
Hope you like!
1 cup shortening (Crisco)
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking powder
2 cups quick oatmeal
½ cup nuts
1 (6 ounces) package chips (chocolate, vanilla or butterscotch)
Place shortening, sugars, vanilla and eggs in a bowl and beat. Add flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. Mix and beat. Fold in oatmeal, nuts and chips. Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes.
Note: For the 1 cup of shortening, you can also use ½ shortening and ½ margarine.
DIBS Setup: Quart bag: Both kinds of sugar Quart bag: Flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder Quart bag: Oatmeal, nuts and chips Again, I would put everything together in a larger sized bag or a tupperware-type container.
Hope you like!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie DIBS
My weekend turned out to be much more hectic than I had planned so I didn't get to post the recipes like I had wanted to. On the plus side, I did manage to get almost all of DD#1's Christmas and Birthday gifts purchased. I'm sooo excited!
Ok, so anyway, on with the recipe!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup shortening
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups quick cooking oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or raisins
In large mixing bowl stir together the flour, both kinds of sugar, salt and soda. Add the ½ cup shortening, egg, milk and vanilla. Stir with wooden spoon till well mixed, or mix with your hands. Mix in the oats and the chocolate chips or raisins.
Turn oven to 350°F. Grease 1 or 2 cookie sheets with some shortening. Drop dough from a teaspoon to make small mounds about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Push dough off one spoon with another spoon.
Put cookie sheet into oven. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Use spatula to lift cookies onto cooling rack. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with rest of dough.
Servings: About 2 dozen cookies
So...the DIBS setup would be as follows: Quart bag: Flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt & baking soda Quart bag: Oatmeal Quart bag: Chocolate chips 1/2 gallon or gallon bag: I would put all 3 quart size bags in one larger bag to keep them all together. That way you don't end up using the chocolate chips in something else by accident. Cuz that's just the kind of thing I would do! lol
Please note that the bag sizes are all approximate since I have never actually done this before. Feel free to switch it up however you want. They are just suggestions and guesses as to what would fit in what. Bon Appetit!
Ok, so anyway, on with the recipe!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup shortening
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
½ teaspoon vanilla
1½ cups quick cooking oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or raisins
In large mixing bowl stir together the flour, both kinds of sugar, salt and soda. Add the ½ cup shortening, egg, milk and vanilla. Stir with wooden spoon till well mixed, or mix with your hands. Mix in the oats and the chocolate chips or raisins.
Turn oven to 350°F. Grease 1 or 2 cookie sheets with some shortening. Drop dough from a teaspoon to make small mounds about 2 inches apart on greased cookie sheet. Push dough off one spoon with another spoon.
Put cookie sheet into oven. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove from oven. Use spatula to lift cookies onto cooling rack. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with rest of dough.
Servings: About 2 dozen cookies
So...the DIBS setup would be as follows: Quart bag: Flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt & baking soda Quart bag: Oatmeal Quart bag: Chocolate chips 1/2 gallon or gallon bag: I would put all 3 quart size bags in one larger bag to keep them all together. That way you don't end up using the chocolate chips in something else by accident. Cuz that's just the kind of thing I would do! lol
Please note that the bag sizes are all approximate since I have never actually done this before. Feel free to switch it up however you want. They are just suggestions and guesses as to what would fit in what. Bon Appetit!
Chocolate Banana Bread
Here is the first recipe, as promised. I will post the recipe first and then how the bags should be setup. Enjoy!
Chocolate Banana Bread
½ cup (¼ pound) butter or margarine, at room temperature
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Butter and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan (8 cup capacity). In a bowl, with mixer on high speed, beat butter and the sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and beat until well blended. Stir in bananas.
In a small bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; add to banana mixture and mix just until evenly moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in a 350°F oven until a thin wood skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert loaf from pan and cool completely on rack, about 1 hour.
Makes: 1 loaf (about 2 pounds); 8 to 10 servings.
Per Serving: 287 cals, 4.2g. protein, 11g. fat, 45g. carbs, 1.1g. fiber, 394mg. sodium, 68mg. chol.
Now the DIBS bag setup... - Snack size for sugar. - Quart size for flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Well there, that was easy! :o) Keep checking back for the rest of the recipes. I'll try to post them this weekend when I get a little more time. Enjoy!
Chocolate Banana Bread
½ cup (¼ pound) butter or margarine, at room temperature
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1½ cups mashed ripe bananas
1/3 cup Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
Butter and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan (8 cup capacity). In a bowl, with mixer on high speed, beat butter and the sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Add eggs and beat until well blended. Stir in bananas.
In a small bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; add to banana mixture and mix just until evenly moistened. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in a 350°F oven until a thin wood skewer inserted in center of loaf comes out clean, 45 to 55 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then invert loaf from pan and cool completely on rack, about 1 hour.
Makes: 1 loaf (about 2 pounds); 8 to 10 servings.
Per Serving: 287 cals, 4.2g. protein, 11g. fat, 45g. carbs, 1.1g. fiber, 394mg. sodium, 68mg. chol.
Now the DIBS bag setup... - Snack size for sugar. - Quart size for flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt. Well there, that was easy! :o) Keep checking back for the rest of the recipes. I'll try to post them this weekend when I get a little more time. Enjoy!
And The Winners Are...
I finally figured out which recipes I'm going to use for DIBS. Besides the Chocolate Chip Cinnamon Crinkles (posted at ChristmasCreations' blog), I will be making one for Chocolate Banana Bread (they make great gifts if you bake them in mini loaf pans), one for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (one of my favorites), one for Cowboy Cookies (a new favorite) and lastly, one for my Sour Cream Coffee Cake (great as a gift also if baked in mini bundt pans).
So there you have it. One bread, two cookies and one cake. Alright, yes, I know...I said I would post the recipes and the DIBS setup. I lied! hahaha Just kidding! I will be back soon to post them...just as soon as I figure them out. Each recipe will have it's own post to make it easier to read.
So there you have it. One bread, two cookies and one cake. Alright, yes, I know...I said I would post the recipes and the DIBS setup. I lied! hahaha Just kidding! I will be back soon to post them...just as soon as I figure them out. Each recipe will have it's own post to make it easier to read.
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