Annette's Birthday Party Celebration Day

Today should be an all around good day.  First of all it's my day off!!! a plus right there.  Second, it's a sunny, somewhat warm, day in Minnesota in April..another big time plus, and thirdly, it's the day we are celebrating my "adopted" daughter, Annette's 40th birthday at Khan's tonight.  Her real birthday was last Saturday, but she likes to celebrate and celebrate her birthdays so she was busy with her friends at that time, so we made our celebration for tonight.  (don't worry, this is not the end, she has about two weeks left of events scheduled).  so far though I have been cleaning out the kitchen fridge.  Not a lot of fun.  For about a week it had this funky smell, like spilled pickle juice, but after a thorough check and throw out of any possible culprits, I still couldn't figure it out, so today it was a complete rip down and wash down that took most of my morning.  If that doesn't do it, it's going to be pull out the fridge time for the guys and make sure that doesn't produce any unforeseen problems.  Of course, Dave "can't smell anything", but I promise I am not going crazy, on this one at least!  We'll see wha the results are after the door has been shut for a while..."I'll get you, my nasty!"  Well anyway, onto the events of the afternoon/evening..hopefully they will be a more pleasant reading experience.  I'll post pics if I remember my camera..

A Teeny Hat for a Teeny Girl

I decided to start taking little projects to work for my lunch hour once again.  I usually bring my lunch and then have at least a half hour to kill and for a while was bringing embroidery, but decided to make some little hats that are easy to carry along and work up fast also.  I love the color of the Hobby Lobby yarn I bought and had used a little bit of it in the previous hat posted, so bought some matching girly ribbon and made up this little hat that I am going to give to my daughter's friends new grandbaby.  It will look adorable on her and living in Minnesota it will be perfect for this up and down temp weather we are having.   Can't wait to see a picture of her in it!  That's my hand underneath it..LOL

Cute Little Hat for Olivia

I had found this pattern from an English pattern designer a few weeks ago and finally decided I just had to make it for my great niece, Olivia, who is 5 now.  She has just the look and personality to wear such a hat.  I think it turned out adorable and can't wait to see it on her.  It was an easy pattern and only took about 5 or less hours to put together..so fun to make little girl things!  (again, the colors are off though.  it's actually a sort of aqua color and hot hot pink)

 

Here is a picture of the recipient in her hat..looking good Olivia!

 

Hobby Lobby Road Trip

I have been repeatedly reading posts on some of my crochet sites about Hobby Lobby Craft Store, so today I am jumping on the band wagon and taking a road trip to see what the hype is all about.  Minnesota has only about 4 of them, that I know of, around the state, and the closest one for me is 31 miles away, but it's fairly nice out today, cool of course (Minnesota after all and not July yet) and not really warm enough to leave the windows open to start my painting projects or work outside, so this is the perfect time to go.  I am excited to see what they have to offer, but also kind of hoping it's not that great so I don't want to repeatedly go since it's not really a quick trip to get there and back.  BUT, I am trying to experience new things these days and force myself to do things I have been putting aside because it's easier to just stay home, so here I go!  Update to come later today on what I discover in the wondrous world of Hobby Lobby...!!

4 hours later...
I loved it!  I thought the prices were reasonable, the yarn was nice and lots of color choices etc and I had fun.  I also found out that they are making one in a mall (Northtown) that is a lot closer and more convenient for me, so now I am really happy, which means I had a successful road trip.  Now to get busy using some of my yarn and fabric I bought!

Cooking and Craft Day

Well today was one of those days that I did a little of this and a little of that.  First I added a few rows to my ongoing CAL afghan..

During which time I did laundry, bedding and towels mainly, and baked some toll house cookies because the men who eat here have been whining that they wanted some.. (one batch was "overdone" due to above crocheting and not paying attention)

and in between that I made the marinated steak and Pico de Gallo for these Carne Asada tacos that I grilled and had for supper for the above mentioned men..Dave and Joe, although I was mad because the white corn tortillas from Reisers that I bought were crumbly messes! DON'T buy them.  I should have used my normal soft flour tortillas.  They were good, but ended up being a salad and not a taco. NEXT TIME..LOL

anyway, it was kind of a successful day, although I didn't get started cleaning closets like I vowed I was going to do today..guess it will have to wait until my next day off..oh wait, I am going shopping that day..well maybe the day after my next day off. 

 

Back from a badly needed vacation

My son, Joe, and I decided this was the year we would finally take the vacation we had talked about for 3 years.  We both wanted to go to Florida, see my sister, Karen, and her family and hit Universal Studios.  I had been there once years ago, but he had never been there and they had added on their Harry Potter exhibits that even I had never seen previously.  We're both Potter fans, so decided we needed to go before I was too decrepitated to get around the park..it's a good thing we did because once I got there I barely survived..tons of walking and stair climbing, but somehow my will prevailed and I made it, not one day, but two!  I am sure it will be my last time going there though.. I am glad I did..it was awesome.  I did most the rides, with a scraped up knee and a bitten lip to prove it.  They are some crazy rides!  almost to the extreme.  We had a good time though, visiting, eating, getting out to the ocean, Cocoa Beach, seeing their pet alligators and other strange little creatures, heard about the 7 foot long yellow rat snake my sister had fall from a tree into her yard, celebrating her 60th birthday and lots of other adventures..again, so glad we went this year. 

Lemon (or whatever) layered pudding dessert

I always crave something lemon for Easter dessert, so had to make this old standby in our family for years also..My mom calls it pudding dessert, but I just change the name to fit the flavor!  I have had it with pistachio, chocolate, coconut and the lemon.  My friend from work alters the crust too and uses pulverized oatmeal for the flour to make it gluten free and has made it chocolate with mint in it for St Patricks Day and chops Andes Mints on top.  It's a very versatile recipe..it would be good with vanilla pudding and bananas too for a mock banana supreme pie.  Anyway, back to the lemon Layered Pudding Dessert..Here is the recipe:

Lemon Layered Pudding Dessert:

CRUST:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup margarine (I use butter)
1/2 cup finely crushed pecans
Mix well together until thoroughly combined..Pat into a 9 x 13 cooking sprayed baking pan.  Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes.   cool.

SECOND LAYER:
Beat together with a mixer:
1- 8 ounce pkg of cream cheese (light is fine) that is at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 of a small cool whip container and pour over cooled crust spreading it evenly

THIRD LAYER:
Mix together 2 packages (3 oz) of whatever flavor instant pudding you want with 2-1/2 cups cold milk until thickened.  pour over 2nd layer.

once set and thick top with the rest of the cool whip.  Keep refrigerated.

Carmelled Apple Salad

I wanted some kind of fluffy fruity thing for Easter and had 3 big nice apples left from a purchase from the Granddaughter, Sami's, 4H sale, so decided to make half a batch of my carmelled apple salad.  The full recipe makes a lot and we are having tons of food and only 12 people for Easter, so didn't want a lot left for me to devour on my own.  It's great for potlucks or places you need to feed a large crowd and want something fancy looking and not super expensive to throw together..here is the full recipe.

CARMELLED APPLE SALAD:
8-oz container cool whip thawed
3-1/2 oz pkg instant butterscotch pudding mix
8-oz can crushed pineapple (don't drain)
3 cups tart apples, cored, peeled and diced
1 cup mini mashmellows
1 cup dry-roasted peanuts (optional)

Mix whipped topping, pudding mix and pineapple together; fold in remaining ingredients.  Cover and keep refrigerated until ready to serve. 

Deviled Eggs for Easter

Easter just wouldn't be the same without some deviled eggs at my house, so today I got some ready for tomorrow's feast.  I boiled a dozen eggs in salted water (I hear it helps them peel easier) for 10 minutes at a low boil and then drained them and covered them with cold water until cool, peeled them-it did seem easier, although I got "dents" in two of them.  Then I cut them in half, removed the yolks and put them in a bowl and wiped out the whites with a paper towel to make sure they were dry and clean.  with a fork I finely mashed/smashed the yolks in the bowl, added about a couple tsps. of regular yellow mustard, about a 1/4 of a cup of Miracle Whip, some pickle relish (I had made this, but you can use dill relish or just add a little juice from the jar if you don't like relish in them) salt and pepper to taste and mix well..then just put the mixture in the well of the egg white and sprinkle with paprika lightly.  I used my Pampered Chef pasty tube. 

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Barb Hickle-Grove's Fresh Strawberry Pie:

Crust:
Combine 1 tsp salt, 1 TBSP sugar, and 1-1/2 cups flour and 1/2 cup chopped, sliced almonds.  Add 1/2 cup softened or melted and slightly cooled butter and 3 TBSP milk.  Mix together well and pat into a pie pan like a pie crust (also up the sides), packing it well.   Bake until light brown at 375 degrees (mine was about 23 minutes).  Cool.

Glaze:
Combine 1 TBSP corn starch and 1 cup water in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and boil until clear..(not long after it boils)..take off heat and stir in 1 small pkg strawberry jello until dissolved.  you can add red food coloring if you like.  it's pretty red already though.  cool to lukewarm.

In the meantime, wash, de-stem and slice about two boxes or strawberries or one jumbo size box.  I tried to use the ripest ones for their natural sweetness.  and place in the cooled crust.  Then drizzle or spoon the glaze over the strawberries until completely covered and all the berries have some glaze covering them.  refrigerate until ready to serve and pie is set.  Add whipped cream or cool whip when serving, or pipe around the outside with a star shaped larger tip.  Also can add come drizzled chocolate if desired. 

Krispy Easter Eggs

I was watching "The Pioneer Woman" show last weekend and she was making these Krispy Easter Eggs.  I just thought the kids would get a real kick out of them because they are cute, and also because they have a Cadbury chocolate egg surprise inside, so I had to make them!  Today was the day.  The hardest part was trying to not get the rice krispie mix stuck to your fingers, but cooking spray did help with that part.  It would have been fun to have some kids around to put the sprinkles on them so you could kick them out faster, thus only 12 of them instead of the 24 they could have been..the rest went in a pan to cut up for chomping on whenever.  Won't post the recipe because it's on her site under the same title.  (you just use a plastic little egg that you hide treats in for the mold).