Chocolate-Mint Crackles

This recipe has been in my folder for years, it's from a Martha Stewart magazine date unknown. I was home yesterday getting caught up on house work and thought I'd make a quick cookie for Monday Supper (Sunday supper postponed a day!), these looked easy - although I didn't read all the way thru the instructions and realized too late the dough needed to be chilled for 3 hours, so not exactly a "quick" cookie! I got around that issue by throwing the dough in the freezer for about a half hour until the dough was chilled (but not frozen). These got mixed reviews: if you like a soft brownie-like cookie and mint then I think you'll like them, if you like thin crunchy non-minty cookies they might not be your favorite! I think they taste like Andes Mints, yum.

2 oz. bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3/4 teaspoon mint extract (note: I only put in 1/2 teaspoon and they're quite minty)
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

• Melt chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, stirring until melted. (Note: I melted mine in a glass measuring cup in the microwave, follow package directions).
• In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and cocoa.
• In a larger bowl, whisk together granulated sugar, egg, and melted butter. Gradually whisk in melted chocolate and mint extract until smooth. Stir in flour mixture (note: I wasn't paying attention and tried to whisk in the flour but that was messy and sticky - switch to a spoon to incorporate the flour mixture). Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.
• Preheat oven to 325'. Roll tagl3espoons of dough into balls using your palms, then roll in confectioners' sugar to coat. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, spacing each 1 inch apart. Bake until slightly firm in the center, about 15 minutes. (note: mine took between 13 and 14 minutes)
• Let cool slightly on sheets set on wire racks. Transfer cookies to racks, and let cool completely. 

Makes 30 cookies. Dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or rolled into balls and frozen for up to 2 weeks. Roll in confectioners' sugar just before baking. 

Store cookies at room temperature for up to 3 days. 

1.30.18: baked ham and cheese sliders
1.30.17: heart cork wreath and trivet
1.30.16: sweet sunrise mocktail


Happy moment ~ no brainer, the smell of cookies baking in the oven

Curly Willow Branches

Patty gave me a pretty floral arrangement that had a piece of curly willow in it - when it was time to toss the flowers I had a flashback to a flower class I took years ago and remembered that if you put the branch in water it will eventually grow roots and you can plant it. So that's what I did - although instead of putting it in a glass of water I bent it and put it in my indoor water fountain that I have by my kitchen sink; and sure enough, both ends have roots now and little leaves are shooting off the branch (it was a bare branch when it came in the floral arrangement). How fun is this - maybe I'll grow my own curly willow tree...except for now it looks super cute in the water fountain so I'm not going to plant it just yet.

Happy moment -  listening to my indoor water fountain

DIY: Glass Cleaner

Saw this recipe for glass cleaner on the Doterra essential oil website (click here) and it' so easy that I whipped it up in a few seconds. I only made a small batch in case it didn't work, but it does!


3/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup distilled water
8 drops citrus essential oil (I did lime and grapefruit)

Mix all together in an 8 oz spray bottle.


Next I need to come up with cuter labels - between the body wash last week and this glass cleaner taping a piece of paper on isn't quite cutting it hahahah! But whatever, no one sees it but me ;)


1.28.18: salsa verde pork enchilada casserole
1.28.17: wedding day mimosa
1.28.16: getting ready for guests


Happy moment ~ finding the lost sock

Around the Campfire (week 4)

Dear Campers ~


Quick recap in case you missed anything ~

1/20: around the campfire (week 3)
1/21: making plarn
1/22: kale salad
1/23: buttermilk drop biscuits
1/24: DIY: body wash
1/25: Ron's mom's dinner
1/26: spirit gloves


What's cooking ~

• grilled tuna steaks seasoned with Montreal steak seasoning, greek salad with roasted garbanzo beans
• grilled steak, potato salad, kale coleslaw, sautéed onions and mushrooms
• grilled chicken, mushroom ravioli with basil pesto, green beans
• grilled ruebens, potato salad, guacamole and frito chips
• baked paprika shrimp, cauliflower rice, green salad

garage floor before (r) and after (l)

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy but doesn't need it's own post ~

• finished reading "Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" in time before it had to be returned to the online library - so good!! two thumbs up. 
• finished dusting the entire garage/craft room after having work done (new cabinets added, floor painted and sealed - super dusty!)...and put everything back. Rearranged the stuff hanging on the wall sized peg board. Putting the garage back together took most of the week! 
• getting ready for Al and Cathy to visit for a few days (yay); made pumpkin muffins with cranberry and chocolate chips, I'll share the recipe soon.

Have a great week, stop by often to see what's happening at day camp :)

Sincerely,


Jill, your camp counselor and chaos wrangler

Ron's Mom's Dinner

Janis told me she was making "Ron's Mom's Dinner" and even tho I had no idea what that meant, the name is so great that it doesn't even matter what it is haha - I asked for the recipe and it sounds delicious! It's tomato-meat sauce over rice, I've never put tomato sauce over rice, only pasta or polenta, and I'm going to try this next time.

She said she always uses okra instead of beans, but doesn't like telling people it has okra in it because so many don't like it (me included, I almost stopped listening to her when she said the family calls it "the okra dish"); but her family loves it, even the little kids, so I'd be willing to try it - but she said just use green beans! Hahaha, well that is a bit safer so that's probably what I'll do. Also, regarding the okra - because fresh okra is iffy to buy (I have no idea, I've never bought it - apparently it can look good but not be good) she uses frozen okra in this recipe. Thanks for sharing, Janis!

RON’S MOM’S RECIPE 

Serves 6

1 large onion chopped

2 Tablespoons olive oil

1 lb ground beef

1 28 oz canned chopped or diced tomatoes

1 14 oz canned whole tomatoes

1 14 oz canned tomato sauce

1 14 oz package frozen green beans or frozen okra

salt

pepper

In a sauté pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and add onion.  Cook until onion begins to caramelize or brown.  Add ground beef and cook until fully done.  Add canned tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste.  Cook for 20 minutes stirring often.  Add frozen green beans or okra.  Cook for another 20 minutes.  Serve over rice.  

RICE

2 cups rice

1 Tablespoon butter or olive oil

¼ cup vermicelli (optional), broken into little pieces

salt

Rinse rice and drain. In a saucepan, melt butter and add vermicelli.  Stirring constantly until vermicelli begins to turn toasty brown.  Add 3 ¾ water and some salt, bring to boil.  Add rice and cook for 15 minutes.  Fluff with fork.

1.26.18: Brooke makes gemstone soap

1.26.16: honey lime dressing

Happy moment ~ first scoop into a new jar of peanut butter (with or without using my finger)

Spirit Gloves

These are so fun for cheering on your team if (a) it's outside and cold, (b) inside and cold, or (c) you just like to wear pompoms (I personally choose this one haha). I made easy pompoms in my niece's school colors by winding yarn around something stiff that is the size of the pompom you want (I used a credit card), carefully pull the yarn off the card and wrap a long piece of yarn around the middle holding the loops closed - leave a long tail to attach the pompoms to the gloves; then snip the loops so they open up into a pompom. You can easily find more info online if you need it to make yarn pompoms, I didn't take pictures so can't give more description - sorry. The more times you wind the yarn around the card the fuller your pompom will be. Trim the pompom into a symmetrical ball, then using the long tail from tying off the middle, sew the pompoms onto the tip of each finger of knit gloves. I didn't make one for the thumbs, not sure why - do however many you want!

1.25.18: make an anniversary card 

1.25.17: Kyles sausage stuffed acorn squash

1.25.16: stamped floor mat

Happy moment ~ listening to Lucy (the parrot) mutter something under her breath and then laugh at herself, like she told herself a funny joke. 

DIY: Body Wash

I've got a confession. My name is Jill, and I'm a body and bath product-holic . Brooke and I (and PJ before her) love to go into Bath and Body Works and sample all the different scented lotions, etc. until we walk out of the store smelling like a fruit salad and/or tropical vacation. I love the stuff. So when I recently saw the instructions for how to make my own body wash I thought to myself "why have I never thought to do this?" because, duh, it's super easy and I can control the scent I want based on what essential oils I feel like. This is now a no-brainer and I'm a convert - not saying I won't still go in the bath stores and come out smelling like every kind of flower, tropical drink, hawaiian sunset I can find in a bottle LOL - but I will also continue making my own from now on.

for every 8 oz of body wash you need:

• 8 oz or larger pump bottle (I have a 16oz. bottle in this pic; look for pump bottles that have a straw long enough to touch the bottom of the bottle, drives me crazy when they stop short!)
• 1/2 cup unscented liquid Castile soap (I ordered from Amazon, but then found it in my little grocery store)
• 4 Tablespoons vegetable glycerin (thick syrupy oil that is good for moisturizing)
• 3 Tablespoons fractionated coconut oil (made from coconut oil but stays liquid, it's a good carrier for essential oils)
• 10 drops of essential oil(s)

Directions:

1. Combine the soap, glycerin, and coconut oil in the bottle (I used a funnel to keep the job clean - clean, see what I did there?). Shake to combine.

2. Add the essential oil(s) of your choice - for this batch I combined lavender, lime, and tangerine (note I didn't add very much lavender, went heavier on the lime and tangerine)

3. Shake the bottle to combine. You'll need to shake it before every use because the ingredients will separate. 

not sure why I took these last pics - proving the soap I just made is actually soap? 

original source found here 

1.24.18: change up a too-modern side table
1.24.17: avocado toast with basted eggs 
1.24.16: lamb stew


Happy Moment ~ writing this post and remembering being with my niece sampling all the different scented lotions; "mmm, smell this one", "mmm, smell my arm", and  "ewwww, this one is gross" :)

Buttermilk Drop Biscuits

Saw this recipe at Mels Kitchen Cafe and the reviews are so good I decided to make them as a side dish for dinner - we don't eat very many biscuits (not because we don't love biscuits, just try not to eat bread and rolls for dinner very often!) but we had Sunday Supper (unstuffed chicken cordon bleu, click here for that post) and these are a natural to serve with it (or anything! They're biscuits, can't go wrong serving biscuits!) along with roasted green beans - every once in a while ya just gotta go for it :).

These are very easy and quick to make - the only thing I changed is to sprinkle with "everything bagel seasoning" before baking. They are crispy on the outside, fluffy and moist inside, and the seasoning on top was so flavorful - mmmmm....

Now, I will say that when I asked Dave how he liked them his answer was "why can't anyone make biscuits like my mom?" which you'll be very proud of me to know that I was very calm and didn't throw the leftover biscuits at him LOL, I just rolled my eyes and walked away. These are really really good and everyone loved them!!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, chilled (*see note)
• 8 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled; plus more for brushing after the biscuits are baked. 

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 475. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. In a 2-cup liquid measure, stir together the chilled buttermilk and melted butter until the butter forms small clumps. Stir the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture just until the ingredients are incorporated and themixtsure slightly pulls away from the edges of the bowl.
3. Using a greased 1/4-cup measure, scoop out mounds of the dough and drop them onto the prepared baking sheet, spacing about 1/1/2 inches apart. are until the tops are golden brown and crisp, 12 to 14 minutes Remove from the oven, brush with additional melted butter. Serve warm. 

*Note: if you don't have buttermilk you can very easily make it yourself - just add a tablespoon of white vinegar to one cup of milk. Let it stand for a few minutes before adding it to your recipe.

click here for original source

1.23.18: weekly planning
1.23.17: string art heart (and scottie dog)
1.23.16: Dave's Cosmos

Happy moment ~ warm towels right out of the dryer

Kale Salad

Today it's a little kale tip:

Dave hates kale because he "can never get it on his fork", um ok...I think he means it's too leafy and big and tough to spear...I think...or it could be that he eats so fast he hates when it takes too long to finish something hahaha...but I made kale salad the other night and we both loved it. I think the key this time is that about 1/2 hour before serving the salad I mixed the bowl of fresh kale (remove the hard stems and rip into little 1"-ish pieces) with a drizzle of olive oil and coarse salt and let it set on the counter; that helped to soften the kale and took a little bit of the fresh crunchy kale texture away.

To serve the salad I simply tossed it with store-bought honey-ginger dressing, coarse pepper, a touch more salt, and toasted sesame seeds. This turned out so good it'll definitely be a repeat, and I heard nary a word about it being hard to eat ;).

1.22.18: skillet chicken and veggie pot pie
1.22.17: DIY reserved signs

Happy moment ~ remembering my sissy's wedding 2 years ago today 

Making Plarn

When California first banned plastic bags I panicked! I have no problem with using my own recyclable bags (other than remembering to take them into the store with me 🤦‍♀️ can't tell you how many times Thelma here has to go back to the car for them!), but I use those grocery store plastic bags for lots of things - picking up dog poo, lining small trash cans, filling for mailing packages - and now we wouldn't get any more of them? Ughhhhh. So I did what anyone who panics at the thought of not getting their hands on some discontinued thing would do - started hoarding them, of course.

Believe it or not it didn't take me long to amass a large collection of plastic bags and it occurred to me that hoarding bags takes up a lot of room and a crafty person should start making things out of them - first up, plarn. Plarn is essentially plastic yarn and super easy (albeit time consuming) to make. Flatten out a bag (or stack them up to save time), fold in half lengthwise, cut off the handles and the bottom edge. Then fold it in half again and cut into strips; I was able to get about 14 1" strips from one bag. Unfold the strips and they are loops that you then quickly tie together, roll them up into a ball and you've got plarn that you use in lots of different ways (just like regular yarn).

Every bag (14-15 loops) makes about 21 feet of plarn (that's how much I got anyway, if you cut the strips thicker or thinner this number will change). I haven't made anything with the plarn yet so I'm not sure how much I'll need to make a project - I'm deciding between a placemat to put under Sarge's bowls, or a crocheted rug. I'll post what I come up with as soon as I know!

I took pictures of the steps but then thought a quick video would be simpler - here's both...

flatten the bag, fold in half, cut off handles and bottom edge.

fold in half again and cut 1" strips, when unfolded they become loops

lay two loops on your work surface with the loops crossing in the center

put your hand thru the middle of the two loops - hand goes over the
top loop (in this photo it's the pink loop), under the bottom loop (white). 

reach thru the center space and grasp the far edge of the top loop  (pink)

pull the pink loop that you just grasped and pull thru the space where you put your hand

gently pull to tighten - if you pull too tight the plastic might rip (guess how I know?)

roll the connected loop "plarn" into a ball so it' doesn't get
tangled and is easier to work with. 

1.21.18: greek pork, lemon rice pilar, tzatziki sauce
1.21.17: Jen's stuffed spaghetti squash
1.21.16: painting a side table


Happy moment ~ watching a little brown bird try to figure out how to eat from a hummingbird feeder, while a hummingbird looks on.