Angry Bird Birthday Cake

My very talented daughter made this awesome cake for her son’s birthday party.

Just a simple 3 tier layer cake but it was adorned with Angry Birds!  What is it about those angry, unhappy birds that makes them so popular?

I was so impressed by those angry little creatures that I forgot to take a picture of the “entire” cake in one picture, sorry.

She used fondant for the bird heads.  She rolled it into balls for the heads.

She then cut out the shapes for the other facial features.

She found a package of eyes.  That sentence just sounds strange.

My granddaughter wants a La La Loopsy cake, can’t wait to see how that will be created.

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Canvas Photo Art

Have you ever seen those beautiful canvas photographs?  I had some amazing close up shots of my dog and cat that I wanted do have done that way but WOW is it expensive.  So I decided to give it a try and make my own canvas art.

I used the following materials:

8×10 canvas

8×10 picture

Acrylic craft paint, flat black

Mod Podge

Foam brush

Picture hanger

First I determined what size canvas would be available to the size of the photo that I wanted.  Then I ordered the photo’s ( I order all my pictures on-line and have them delivered to my house!).  While I was waiting for the photo’s to be delivered, I worked on the canvas.  I purchased the extra deep canvas and painted the sides with the black paint.

This is Jack.

Then when the photo’s arrived, they needed to be trimmed ever so slightly to fit on the canvas.  You can figure this out by laying the photo on the canvas and either determine by eyeballing the excess OR using a ruler and measuring precisely.  I don’t recommend laying the canvas on the picture and cutting it by using the canvas as your guide, you can ruin and scratch the canvas.

I used a ruler and an X-acto knife to get a straight and even cut on the photo, and I made the cut on the back side of the picture.  Make sure you lay the photo on a surface that you can use the knife on.

I used a foam brush to smooth on the Mod Podge on the top of the canvas, I tried not to let it go over the  edge of the canvas.  And I made sure I had enough glue to adhere the photo but not so much that it would damage the picture or  leak out of the sides.  Then I placed the photo on the canvas and slid it into place while the glue was still wet.  I used a piece of thin clean cardboard to lay over the picture so that I could smooth it over (and not get finger prints on the picture) and to make sure it was pressed firmly on the canvas without damaging the picture. However, I would ask that you remove the cardboard while the glue dries,  you won’t want the cardboard to dry to the picture!!   And again, I didn’t press down on the cardboard, I really just wanted to make sure there were no bubbles.  If any glue does come out from under the picture, wipe it away as soon as you can, before it dries.

  This is Gibson.

Then I just left it dry for a day.  After it was dry I attached a hook on the back to hang it on the wall.

And that’s it!!!

This is Charlie, my daughters kitty.  I surprised her with the canvas.

 

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The BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies EVER!!

I love this chocolate chip cookie recipe!  LOVE IT! 

I love making them for me!  I love making them for family!  I just love eating them fresh out of the oven with an ice cold glass of milk!!! 

Here’s the recipe:

2 cups plus 2T flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

Place in a large bowl and set aside.

1 cup butter (2 sticks) melted

1 cup dark brown sugar, packed (( I have been known to throw in an additional 1-2 T))

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Add the melted butter tot he sugars and whisk well, set aside to cool.  When cool, add the eggs and vanilla.  Transfer butter and sugar mixture to the flour bolw and mix by hand until ust combined.  Don’t over mix!

Add 2 cups of chocolate chips

3/4 cups walnuts chopped (optional)

Fold in the chocolate chips and nuts if using to the cookie batter.  Cover and refrigerate for and hour or two, or overnight which is what I typically do.

Preheat oven to 325.  Drop balls, a little smaller than a golf ball onto your cookie sheet.  Bake for about 12-14 minutes.  Allow to cool on your cookie sheet for about 5 minutes or so, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.  I bake mine on a baking stone and they bake up perfectly every time!  Store in an airtight container….if they last that long!

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Lentil Soup for Two, Crockpot Style

I love to make my veggie lentil soup!  But…. There have been times where the lentils weren’t all that good.  They were sort of hard.  Do I soak them?  Cook them longer?  Hmmm… Crockpot soup!!

I have this small crockpot that is great for dips at parties, a half of a chicken breast, and now for soup!  I love throwing all the ingredients in before I leave for work in the morning, and when I get home I have delicious soup waiting for me!!

The first time I made this soup in the crockpot, I didn’t put any meat in the soup as I don’t usually eat that much meat.  But if you want meat, I suggest using cooked meat.  I’ve used sausage (my fav) or shredded  chicken (from leftovers).  I’m also not a huge fan of beans so if you want to add a little more lentils, go ahead!

Here’s what I did:

¼ cup green beans, frozen in 1 in. pieces

¼ cup carrots, sliced (either frozen or fresh)

1/4 cup lentils

2-1/2 cups chicken or beef stock

A scant ¼ cup chopped frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

½ -3/4 cup diced tomatoes, canned, undrained

Salt & Pepper

Dash of cayenne pepper or any other spice/herb that you typically like to cook with. 

Toss all the ingredients in the crockpot, season to your taste. Turn on the lowest heat selection.  I wouldn’t do this on a day that you wouldn’t get home longer than 6-8 hours.  Depending on the size of your little crockpot, you may have to adjust the amounts so it doesn’t cook over while you are away.  I always sit my crockpot on a plate before I add anything to it.

This recipe made 2 big bowls of soup for me. And,  I really love a good slice of crusty bread along with this soup.  Or any soup for that matter.

Cheers!

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The Crafty Side of Me!

I was so busy over the holidays with a new job, physical therapy and making a few crafts.   I had intended to post them as I made them but it just didn’t happen.  So I guess I’ll just have to post it all now!!

Christmas a year ago, my daughter and I made those Christmas balls with the glitter, yanno which one I mean right?  They are now all over Pinterest!  But this year I wanted to use paint, not glitter.  So I checked out TONS of You Tube tutorials and they were pretty much all the same technique. 

I may have used too much paint because I had some gorgeous color combinations but by the time all the excess paint drained out it had altered my designs. 

What I did was gathered and arranged my acrylic paint into the color combos that I wanted.  I would strategically squirt in the paint, cover the opening with a piece of paper towel and shake it until I got the design and mixture I wanted.

Then I set the balls upside down, turning them occasionally to get the paint to run out.  Unfortunately, I did these in the evening and by the time I got up in the morning some paint had settled in one spot and ruined my design.  Oh well, lessons learned.  They still look pretty good and next year I’ll put them in a jar or basket for display.  Next Christmas I hope to do a better job so I can hang them on my tree.

I made 2 shadow boxes and I love them so much that I may do them as gifts next year.  So that means I will need to start collecting coupons from craft stores and buy them months before Christmas so I can get them at a discount.

Here is the first one that I did, I saw it on Pinterest:

I took the back off of the frame and cut a piece of scrapbook paper to fit and attached it to the back of the frame.  My girlfriend has some sort of machine that prints the vinyl letters so she did that part for me.  Then, while the back of the frame was off, I added different sized bells.  You can add as many or as little as you want.  I put the back on the frame and put the letters on top of the glass.

Then I started to think of other designs and came up with this one:

I basically did the same thing but added some “snow”.  I bought the bagged snow at the craft store, I really loved using that because some of it stuck to the inside of the glass and it looks like it is snowing!!!

With the snow that was leftover, I dumped in an apothecary jar and set 2 silver glitter ornaments that I had from last year.  I saw this in a magazine somewhere but they had something different setting in with the snow.  The jar is pictured to the right of the glitter votive cup below.

I made 2 glitter candle votive cups.

I bought the glass cups at the dollar store.  I quickly slathered on the Mod Podge to the outside of the glass containers and then dunked each side in a plate full of glitter.  A girl can’t have too many sparkly and glittery things!!  I loved the look of them in the evening when the only light I had going on was candle light!  However the glitter does drop off when touched so I think I might look into some sort of a sealer to spray over it.

I also made several scarves, here’s three of them:

I’ll be setting up an Etsy shop and selling them there.

And finally, my gorgeous peacock feather Christmas wreath!  LOVE!! 

I bought an peacock feather wreath at an import store and simply added the blue balls and hydrangea flowers.  I was however, stuck on which color to go with.  I also had some green balls and flowers that matched the inside of the feather but decided to stick with the blue. 

Stay tuned though, there are some additional types of ornaments that I will be making yet!  I’m saving those for some cold wintery weekend when it’s just too bitter outside and I want to hibernate for a few days.  It doesn’t have to be Christmas to make ornaments!!!

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Apple Pancakes

I have been making apple pancakes for years!  In fact, I prefer my pancakes with either blueberries or apples.  But it’s usually apples. 

 

 I’m not sure I remember exactly which one of my family made them for me that got me hooked, but when I say I’ve been eating apple pancakes for years, it does date back to my childhood.

And my very favorite way to make pancakes is with Bisquick.  I’ve tried other brands, and made them from scratch, but there’s something about this mix that makes them turn out perfectly. 

You can make your favorite pancake batter too, just try reducing the milk/water/liquid part by ¼ cup for the applesauce.

So, here is how I make mine:

2 cups Bisquick

1 cup milk

1 egg

¼ cup unsweetened applesauce

½ tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

A dash each of nutmeg and ground cloves

Mix gently until nicely blended.

And finally, enough sliced and diced apples to make sure you have a piece of apple in every bite!!!  But since you’ll most likely want to measure for the first time, start with one heaping cup.  I like a lot of apples so I definitely use more than that!

Heat your pan on a medium heat, grease the pan with either a spray oil or a light coating of vegetable oil (just enough to coat the pan), you don’t want to deep fry these babies!!

Carefully ladle the apple pancakebatter mix into the pan, when the cakes start to bubble they are ready to flip and cook on the other side.  Please be careful not to burn them, they are so delicious!

The pancakes will be a little denser and heavier but they will have much more flavor.

You can serve with your favorite syrup or you can do what I do, and it is SO not healthy (like the syrup is)!  I smother the pancakes in butter and then add a sprinkle of sugar.  For some reason, when I was little, the only thing I could put syrup on was French toast, syrup on pancakes made me cry.   I was a strange little girl.

I hope you give these a try, and I really hope you love them as much as I do!!

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Puppy Love, with a Bully

I’m in love.  Puppy Love!  My son adopted a puppy…..at his house *whew. 

But I’ve been busy helping him because he works a lot.  And I want to steal the puppy.  I can’t keep my lips off his cute little wrinkly face.

I have to admit, when we went to look at Dozer, and clearly bring him home, I really wasn’t all that impressed with the breed…English Bulldog, AKA Bullies.  But as I held him and he licked my face, he stole my heart.

Watching my son learn to take care of another living being, has been a challenge as I sometimes feel I’m being very bossy but he seems to welcome the advice since he has never had a dog that he is responsible for by himself.  We have had family dogs, but I did all the training, he did all the playing and enjoying.  He has learned quickly how much is involved with a puppy.  And I am watching as he tries to develop his patience. *insert giggle

Unfortunately we didn’t know that the area where the “breeder” was located was well known for backyard puppy mills.  And surprisingly, 2 particular religious sects that I would have never imaged to “mass produce puppies”, are the biggest culprits.  I had NO IDEA!  The breeder’s house did have 3 outdoor pens with dogs in them so clearly dog breeding was a business for him.  At the time though, I just thought he really loved the breed but as my son was making the purchase and getting the papers, I wandered a little closer to the pens to get a closer look because my curiosity had peaked.  And there were a number of dogs in the pens. 

   Look at those toes!

My son is happy that he rescued one of the puppies.  The vet appointment showed a skin infection, parasites and worms in his stools all due to his living conditions.  We noticed that many of his nails had been broken back to his skin and I was concerned as to why, but the vet seems to think it was his living conditions as well and they will grow back. 

In the last 4 weeks, Dozer has gained 8 pounds!  He is still on meds for the parasites and worms but he is on the road to recovery! 

He’s a very happy and playful pup.  And full of sweet love.  I do on most occasions get bitten on the nose when I grab his face to kiss him!  And when I sit on the floor to play with him I usually get my fingers bit, but then he jumps on me and gives me plenty of puppy kisses!

I haven’t stolen him yet.  But the time is comin’

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Niagara Falls, One of the Seven Wonders of the World?

According to our tour guide and the IMAX Theater,  I just saw the 7th wonder of the world~ which hundreds of thousands of millions and gazillions of people already experienced!  But I am still in awe of the beauty and power of the Niagara Falls! So I’m thinking I might need to see the other six!!

The Seven Wonders of the World are……………….ummm which list do you want look at?  There are the 7 Ancient Wonders, the 7 Modern Wonders, the 7 Man-made Wonders, the  7 Natural Wonders, and a few other Wonder Lists!!  And I didn’t see Niagara Falls on any of them!!!  What the heck!!!   Didn’t anyone tell Canada??  Do they even know??

I don’t want to dispute any list, or any country that thinks they are on the list so I’ll just move on…

My girlfriend and I did a bus trip to Ontario, Canada to see the falls.  Traveling by bus is a great way to travel, you can just sit there and be lazy.  You can read, nap, chat away the hours, or watch the world as you pass by.  But, you are also stuck on a bus with a lot of other chatty people.  Luckily though, there were only 14 total on this trip which was perfect!  We got to know each other and had lots of fun!  And an added plus, they napped when we napped and chatted when we chatted and nobody was noisy at all.  Whew!

The good thing about traveling on a bus trip is that your trip is completely planned for you.  We didn’t have to plan anything; we only had to worry about making sure we got up and on the bus at the appropriate time (and remembered to change out of our jammies).

The bad thing about traveling on a bus trip is that your trip is completely planned for you.  We saw some things that we wanted to do but couldn’t, like walk behind the falls; and also saw some things that we would not have chosen to do BUT we did know this when we signed up.  For instance, we saw an IMAX movie of the falls that was really not interesting, I could have googled that info, or the bus line could have bought the DVD and showed it to us on the drive up.

 

Upon our arrival in Niagara, and the trip thru Canadian Customs with a few rude customs agents, we went to the Skylon Towers for a dinner buffet.  It wasn’t too bad, considering I am not a fan of buffet style meals.  They had an observation deck that I wanted to up to but it wasn’t on our itinerary so after our meal we were back on the bus to our hotel.  The evening was to then be spent on our own.  Naturally I wanted to walk down to the falls.  It was amazing!  Pictures just don’t capture the natural beauty and power of the falls.  We eventually wandered into a restaurant/bar across the street from the falls, and waited for darkness to fall so we could witness the lights on the falls at night.  Gorgeous!

 Unfortunately, I did not have my tripod with me so my night shots didn’t turn out so good.

The next day was breakfast at the hotel and back on the bus for our 3 hour tour!  Yes some of us did sing the little tune to “Gilligan’s Island”.   We had a tour guide that did a great job informing us on the power plants that once occupied the area, we saw a beautiful seminary, and a convent that now sit empty.  I wanted to get off the bus and take pictures because the buildings were beautiful! We went to Table Rock to watch the falls from above. We saw a floral clock that completely bored me to tears. 

And then we went to the “Locks”; a ship had just come in and they were filling up one of the locks but we only had 15 minutes to spend there and we were off again.  We drove past the butterfly conservatory; I would have LOVED going in there too!

  This is at the Whirlpool where 3 rivers meet, I would have loved to take a ride over the whirlpool!!

Next was lunch on our own after which we hopped on “Maid of the Mist” and headed into the mist of the falls, or rain as we later discovered. 

We were all covered in blue plastic disposable raincoats which thankfully kept my clothes and my camera dry, the rest of me was soaked!  What a great adventure to be down in the powerful spray of the falls!

After we dried in the sun for a few minutes we were back on the bus and went to Niagara on the Lake. 

A beautiful quaint little town on Lake Ontario, I had planned on dipping my toes in the lake but we never made it  L .  So, any of you that are planning on going, let me tell you that the town is nice and the shops are unusual boutiques’, most of which cater to a higher end of shopping, had I known I definitely would have declined that visit and chosen the walk behind the falls. 

Three of us almost got stuck in Niagara on the Lake.  We waited and waited….and started to cry….and waited for the shuttle bus to come pick us up to take us back to our bus but it never arrived.  Thankfully a local told us the shuttles stop running at 6pm.  It was then 6:25 and we had to be back at our bus by 6:30.  We cried louder and wanted our Mommies!  It would have been polite for the shuttle driver to tell us the curfew time when he dropped us off.  Would have been nice for OUR bus driver to know that too!  We eventually stopped crying and walked the few blocks out of town to the tour bus location.  We were applauded by everyone else for finally arriving!  I asked them if they were worried about us and they said NO!  Geesh!  Doesn’t anybody love me?

Back on the bus and to the hotel for the night.  I’m going to let you in on a little secret….shhh, you can’t whisper a word to anyone else….we smuggled wine into the country!!!! HA!  So being the rebels that we are, we sat on the balcony of our hotel room and drank our smuggled wine for everyone to see!!  Okay,  just kidding, sort of.  We did bring wine in and my friend declared it.  But how she declared the wine was funny.  The customs agent (who’s personality was equal to a bear with a diaper rash and heartburn) asked her how much wine she is declaring, and my friend used her hands to describe the height of the box and said “about that much”.  Yea yea yea it was box wine!!!  Get over it!  Then she pulled out her metal nail file and proceeded to file her nails!  Umm Janie dear, isn’t that considered a weapon these days!!!

Oh!  I almost forgot!  There was a tightrope walker that walked from the Skylon Tower to one of the hotels.  He just zipped along like it was nothing!

The next morning…….found a Perkins for breakfast (yuck that was bad!) and back on the bus for the IMAX theater.  Again, I knew this was on the itinerary and I was okay it clearly BUT I didn’t realize how lame the movie was going to be.  We learned about the Indian legend to the maid in the mist, heard about some of the daredevils and that was it.  I don’t recommend wasting your time or money on that experience!

Back on the bus for the ride home….and the 1-1/2 hour wait to get thru US customs.  Good to know our country is safe!  They did the mirror under the bus, walked thru our bus and checked out each one of us. Had no wine to declare this time and Janie kept her weapon safely tucked in her purse.   Not sure how I would have explained to her husband that she was arrested for possession of a weapon…..

Adorable friend, fantastic trip and weather, spectacular place to visit and I am so thankful that I was able to go.  But there is no place like home Toto!

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Pumpkin Spice French Toast

I love French toast!  And I love Autumn, so why not combine pumpkin & spice to my French toast?  Sounds reasonable to me!

I had a loaf of Italian bread…..yea making “French” toast with “Italian” bread, I’m silly that way!!  I sliced half the loaf about ½” thick. I like to let the bread sit on the counter so it can start to dry out a little while I prepare the batter.

In a bowl place 3 eggs and whip them a little.  Add ½ cup of milk, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, ¼ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice, a dash of salt, ground cloves and nutmeg.  Mix together well and then add 3 HEAPING tablespoons (or a ¼ cup) of canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie although I’m sure it would work).  Blend well.

Here comes the fun part, soak the bread, bathe it in that wonderful pumpkin batter!  Let the bread absorb but not get mushy, and then toss it in a preheated pan.  I usually do a medium low heat and flip the toast numerous times to make sure if gets heated thru completely and toasted nicely.  

With this batter I was able to make about 7 or 8 slices of toast.  Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon, your favorite syrup and a very tall glass of ice cold milk!

Enjoy!

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Chai Tea Frozen Yogurt

I love ice cream!  This is a healthy way to get my ice cream!  And if you love a good chai tea latte like I do, you will have to try this. 

I have to admit, while it was churning away, I did stick a spoon into the creaminess and try it….more than once.

32 oz of Vanilla yogurt (I used greek, LOVE it and the protein it provides)

A good pinch of each:   Cinnamon, Ground Ginger, and Cardamom

1-2 T sugar (start with 1 T, but honestly, it really doesn’t need it at all.  I just felt that it made the chai flavor stand out!)

3/4 cup of water with 2 chai tea bags already brewed and cooled

Mix it all together and then follow your ice cream maker instructions.

Standby with a spoon to taste test as it is freezing

Enjoy!

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