mmmmm sounds like a party

i love parties, especially themed parties. 2 that are occuring right now: chinese new year and the superbowl.

thought this looked overly delectable : Chinese dinner and you can never have enough fortune cookies. maybe i'll make a pinata of the animal this year...year of the Ox. Martha posted this cute and easy Chinese place setting idea for your party, and a how to for making a paper dragon.

For Superbowl Sunday nachos are a must, as well as lil smokies (i heart lil smokies). Another idea i've been wanting to try is this cute football sandwiches. Plus a game of "touchdown" is always fun. Just create a construction paper goal post, then a paper football for each person. It's like pin the tail on the donkey except you are aiming to tack the football in the center of the goalpost.

NTS Candy site

NTS: order from this website.... oldtimecandy.com.

They have everything!!

Naughty...or nice?

So for a friends bridal shower I created a Naughty or Nice? present...

At Borders I found a naughty or nice coupon book. one coupon will be nice (i.e. Good for one long walk on the beach) and another would be a "naughty" version. I created a naughty box and a nice box.

I filled the nice box with movies and popcorn, my cookbook and some cute heart shaped oven mitts, etc...activities a couple could use and do together. I filled the naughty box with some lip shaped candy, a lip shaped pack of cards, lingerie, and various other items ;)

It was a hit, and I think it is a fun idea for valentines day, bridal showers, anniversaries, etc...

mini pizzas

fabulous new idea I must try:

Thaw out 12 Rhodes Rolls, and press into an ungreased muffin tin, like a crust.

Fill with all of your favorite pizza toppings, and bake at 350 until browned.

Viola, fabulous kid friendly tiny pizzas.

Oh sweet chocolate cake

A friend of mine is getting married in a couple of weeks. Her briday shower is coming up and I am in charge of dessert. Her fiancee is not a fan of chocolate?!?!? so I am making a fantastic chocolate cake...not only chocolate but QUAD chocolate.

This recipe was introduced to me by an old roommates boyfriend. It is extrememly easy and delicious.

Quadruple Chocolate Cake:

1 package cake mix
1 (4 servings) package of instant chocolate pudding
1 3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 package chocolate chips

Mix for 2 minutes well. Bake in a Bundt pan at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes then remove pan. Frost with Chocolate frosting and drizzle with caramel.

Another delicious chocolate recipe that I love is German Chocolate Bars...

German Chocolate Bars:

1 package German Chocolate cake mix
¾ cup softened butter
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1 can prepared German chocolate frosting
Carmel: 1/3 cup evaporated milk, 30 carmels unwrapped.

Mix together all ingredients. Put ½ mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Pour melted caramels over top. Spread layer of frosting over caramels. Drop remaining cake mixture over frosting. Bake for 18 minutes.

Project 365

As I was checking out the Creating Keepsake's Gallery for some fun ideas, I came across this "Project 365" idea. Generally the idea is to take a picture every single day for the entire year....just to document the random moments in life. Seeing how I like life, things measuring life, and scrapbooking, I am going to try and at least acknowledge these things better. I am behind obviously, but I think I can manage to figure some stuff out. For a starter, here is a list of 365 things to think about taking pictures of.

p.s. here is a FREE DOWNLOAD of Becky Higgin's Journaling cards for Project 365.

All things aggies

I just finished up with a "weekend o' aggie athletics" and wanted to share some of my favorite aggie basketball game treats:

Basketball Cookies

Mix and Set aside:
2 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt

Combine and beat until creamy:
1 cup shortening
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 eggs

Mix all ingredients well and stir in 6 oz milk chocolate chips (and/or 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips), 6 oz butterscotch chips, 6 oz white chocolate chips. Spoon into 1 Tbsp. balls 2/3 inches apart on a cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 10 min.

Watch the Aggies play ball and enjoy!

(Story behind the cookies: Toni lived downstairs from some bball players. They were all good friends and those boys didn't like many treats so we invented these cookies. They are so good no one can resist. We made them for all of our basketball related roadtrips!)

Aggie Oreo's

2 Devil’s Food Cake mixes
4 eggs
½ cup shortening

Mix all together until wet and sticky. Form into little balls and place on greased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8 minutes. Cool 1 minute before removing from sheet.

Aggie blue-light frosting:

2 packages cream cheese, softened
4+ cups powdered sugar
1 stick margarine
Aggie Blue food coloring

Mix and sandwich between 2 cookies.

(Story behind the cookies: I made them my freshman year with my friend Brittney, we made them for everything changing the color of the frosting per holiday, and aggie was of course my favorite.)

Latest aggie page just for fun...

Gift idea followup

I saw these supplies at Michael's and thought they made a great idea for one of those gift baskets. Total cost was $9.50 to make everything, but now I still have more paint, and ribbon for other gifts. All I need is a little "go green" bag to but everything in and a pencil. It was super easy to put together, and really is a nice little gift: 4x6 picture frame, journal, magnetic notepad, socks, and a fun "grow the perfect world" toy.

NTS: a good gift idea

Heartland Paper Company on KSL's Studio 5 (which I want to be in the audience for someday) gave some great ideas for gifts. I love themed gifts and parties, and I thought these gift boxes/baskets were super cute! Click the link to see their other fun baskets about chocolate, movies, pedicures, etc...

how I got started...

My interest in cooking began when I was a kid. I didn't watch most Saturday morning cartoons (Although I snuck some He-Man now and then) I watched PBS cooking shows. My favorite was "The Frugal Gourmet" featuring Jeff Smith.

I really don't know why I enjoyed his show so much, but when I made things as a kid I pretended I was filming my own cooking show, just like Jeff.

I began scrapbooking when I was about 14 years old. Oh the days of Mrs. Grossman stickers, construction paper, and scalloped sissors. I will have to dig up an old scrapbook page so we can see how scary it was. yikes!!

Blueberry Pigs

Blueberry pigs are a new creation I discovered yesterday, when I made them as Alyssa's birthday cake. Originally they are a blueberry filled pie crust rolled up. My version is slightly different, not as messy, but just as good.

Start with some pie-crust dough. You can make it, or to be quick and easy I just bought it. Spread the dough to be approximately 1/8 inch thick. Cut into circles the size of a standard ceral bowl. For extra goodness spread nutella all over the circle leaving a 1 inch border. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of blueberries (or any berries) in the center of the circle and sprinkle with sugar. Sliver up some butter and put a few on top of the berries. Fold circle in half to make a mini-pie. Slit x3 on top and seal edge with a fork press. Bake at 350 until brown approx. 30 minutes. Serve cold or hot with whip cream or vanilla ice cream! Enjoy!

Note: Remember that blueberries swell, so to avoid bursting don't over fill. Remember Violet in Willy Wonka??

Welcome!

Welcome to my Recipe Box... this is going to be a random collection of my favorite "recipes." Some are food, some are fun and crafty. Enjoy!