Hairy Pretzels

Hairy what now? I get why they're called that but not sure I would have named them hairy pretzels LOL. Really, that doesn't make them sound nearly as delish and addictive as they are!

I got this recipe from Mrs. Green at school, she has made them so many times she doesn't measure the seasonings, I looked up other recipes for them online and found one on allrecipes.com that calls for 3/4 c. oil, 3 T. garlic powder, and 3 T. dried dill weed so I went with that. Personally that was too much seasoning for my taste; the flavor is great tho and I will absolutely make them again using less of the spices.

Her instructions: 

Mix packet of ranch dressing mix with garlic powder, garlic salt, dill weed and oil of choice. Reddebacher Popping Oil is best, but I’ve used part that and part olive oil before, too.

Mix all well and drizzle over large bag of pretzels in a bowl you can cover with a lid

Gently roll the bowl around often throughout the day and pretzels ready 12-24 hours...longer the better - the pretzels soak in all the goodness 

9.20.17: funfetti cake dough brownie layer cake

Cardstock Gift Box

I haven't made any of Ronda's cute gift enclosures lately - she is so creative and has shown me so so many different ways to make boxes, envelopes, pouches, etc. (so many I kind of forget about how many different ones I've learned!). I caught her doing a facebook live video the other day showing yet another gift box, this one looked so easy and quick to make that I immediately ran to the craft room to whip one out for a gift that I'm giving at a party tonight.  Turned out so cute, and came together so quickly, that I have to share with you. The only thing I changed is the little decorative thing on the front - I don't have the daisy punches that she used so I winged it with what I have on hand. How useful and cute is this box? I will not be forgetting about this one, I can imagine using it all the time. Ronda made a video and it was very easy to follow, I'll try to do the same with pictures. Check it out:

You need an 8.5 x 11" sheet of cardstock for the box itself, and a 6" square of decorative paper for the front and back panels of the box.

Score the cardstock at 2" on the 11" side, turn and score the other side at 2", 5 1/4", 7 1/4", 10 1/2"
Cut off 1/2 inch across the top but keep the strip for the end.
Cut the decorative paper in 2 pieces 3" x 5 3/4".

Fold all of the score lines a bit so the paper is flexible. Cut the score lines up 2" to meet the long score you made the length of the paper. Remove the little 1/2" strip along the side.

Run adhesive along the 1/2" side and across the flap below it. Before assembling the box, glue on the 3 x 5 3/4" decorative paper panels. Fold the box into shape, tuck in the 1/2" strip and glue to the other side. Fold in the short flaps, then the flap that has adhesive on it, then the other flap to create the bottom.

To finish - fold the strip that you cut off in the beginning along the score lines, put glue on both ends and wrap around the box. Add embellishment of your choice - Ronda made a cute sunflower out of 4 punched flower pieces and a brown circle for the center;  I layered 3 flower pieces (curl the edges a bit using a bone folder or wrap around a pencil and attached a gem for the center. Stuck on the front using dimensional foam squares so it stands out a bit from the box.

The top of this box is open so you'll see whatever you put inside it. Ronda's example had a gift wrapped with cellophane with the ends sticking up out of the top - so cute.

9.19.18: strawberry swirl cheesecake
9.19.17: paper mugs
9.19.16: Steve's mac and cheese
9.19.15: dog crate cover

German Chocolate Poke Cake

I've been making LeDonna some sort of German chocolate dessert for a few years now - hopefully she still likes German chocolate because I haven't even asked her if she wants a change hahaha. This year I wondered if a German chocolate poke cake was a thing...and sure enough, found lots of recipes for it. So that's what I did and it turned out amazing, although I had my doubts...

It took much longer to bake then the recipe called for and I really worried that the cake would either get dried out from baking longer, or not be baked thru because it just never felt done. I pulled it out after 50 minutes with fingers crossed it'd be good. And luckily it turned out great. I didn't weigh it but it's seriously heavy; my friend Sydney (she's 8) tried to lift it from under the table where I had it "hiding" during dinner and struggled to pick it up! It's very dense and rich, almost brownie like but very very moist.

I followed a recipe I found here for most of it, but I did the ganache layer using my standard recipe.

Ingredients:

Cake ~

• 1 box Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
• 1 (3.4) box Chocolate Fudge Instant Pudding
• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 T. vanilla
• 1/4 t. kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips, plus an additional handful for garnish on top of the frosting if desired

Filling ~

• 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

Ganache ~

• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 8 oz. (1 1/3 cups) semi-sweet chocolate bar, chopped or chocolate chips

Frosting ~

• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large egg yolks
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• ]1 t. vanilla
• 1/4 t. salt
• 1 cup chopped pecan pieces
• 1 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (note you can use sweetened but I prefer unsweetened - this cake is already so sweet)

Cake directions:

Preheat oven to 350'.In a large bowl, combine all of the cake ingredients until fully mixed and pour into a greased 13x9" pan. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (as I noted above, this easily took 50 minutes and still seemed like it might be underdone but I pulled it at 50). Remove from the oven and poke holes all over the cake with a big skewer. While the cake is still hot, pour and spread the sweetened condensed milk over the top of the cake, it will soak in while the cake cools.

Meanwhile, while the cake is baking and then cooling, prepare the ganache by heating the heavy cream in a glass measuring cup in the microwave (or on the stove top if you prefer). Place the chopped chocolate in a bowl, pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir until the chocolate is melted. Let it rest for a while, it'll thicken up as it cools down. Once it's thick and creamy, spread evenly over the top of the cooled cake.

Top with coconut-pecan frosting and sprinkle on additional mini chips if desired (I like how it looks). Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Frosting Directions:

Combine the evaporated milk, sugar, egg yolks, butter, vanilla, and salt in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens, about 10-12 minutes. Remove from heat.  Add the coconut and pecans, stir to combine. Set aside until ready to use. Before putting on the cake, give the frosting a good stir to loosen and fluff it up a bit. 

I have to tell you that I had the nicest compliment from a stranger about this cake! We took it to a restaurant for her birthday and gave pieces of it to the waitstaff (I always try to leave some cake since they usually bring extra plates, a knife, and silverware which is just more work for them!), the manager came to the table and asked who baked the cake, he wanted to shake my hand and say it was the best cake they've ever been given and everyone was in the kitchen devouring it. Hmmm, now that I'm writing that, it's occurring to me that maybe it's the best because no one has ever given them cake before? Whatever, I'm taking the compliment hahahah!

9.18.18: plant hanger
9.18.15: laundry room tip

Tip-sy Tuesday: Apples

My sis sent me this photo thinking I'd like to blog it - I would, but I'm also happy to just have this knowledge now...I can never remember this info:

I have no idea where she found it so can't credit the source of the apple diagrammer!

Now that we know which is the most tart and which is the sweetest - here's a guide to using some of them:

source: delish.com

9.17.18: make a giant candy card
9.17.17: apricot, pine nut, goat cheese spread
9.17.16: german chocolate cake
9.17.15: organizing craft room

Enter to Win

As I mentioned this past weekend, today is the 4th anniversary of the Make My Day Camp blog! Still can't believe I've filled 4 years worth of crafts (some silly, some lame, some cool, some awesome...), recipes, projects, guest bloggers, travels, campfires, some things to make you think, and some things to make you laugh...hopefully you've been entertained by it all!

Instead of sharing a project today, I'm giving out a prize in thanks for being such great blog followers - I appreciate you!

Enter to win a $25 gift card by leaving your name (and a comment if you want!) either here on the blog or on the blog facebook page. You have until midnight tonight (9/16) to enter, I will draw a name tomorrow and let you know!

On your mark, get set, GO!! Good luck!

Do you remember the first blog post? It all started with some sprinkles...

Around the Campfire 🔥 (week 37)

Dear Campers ~

Another week that flew by - why is it time seems to be moving faster and faster? Here's a recap of the happenings at MMDC this week in case you missed anything:

Posts ~
9/8: 🔥 (week 36)
9/9: how to make a tutu
9/10: Tip-sy Tuesday: food processor tip
9/11: zucchini bread
9/12: lemon zucchini bread
9/13: my sis is hungry: zucchini bread bake-off
9/14: time to celebrate!

What's Cooking ~

• ribs, kale salad, roasted baby potatoes
• tuna caesar salad
• steak, veggie tots, wedge salad
• grilled chicken sausage, mac and cheese (recipe to follow - you're going to want to make this for sure!), roasted asparagus
• grilled chicken breast, orzo salad

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy but not worth a post ~

• Even tho we had company most of the week I managed to read 3 books. The best was "Sold on a Monday" by Kristina McMorris - took me a bit to get into it but ended up really liking ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️; "Kisser" by Stuart Woods, I don't know why I occasionally read his books and am not a fan of his writing (quite annoyingly chauvinistic) ⭐️; and "Hell's Corner" by David Baldacci  ⭐️⭐️⭐️ was pretty good crime novel, a little political but readable and I was entertained - way better than "Kisser" anyway. 
• Started volunteering again at the elementary school; I was a school volunteer for about 15 years but once my youngest niece hit high school I "retired",  now a friend of mine just started teaching 2nd grade and I offered to help get her going - so I'm temporarily out of retirement!

Hope you had a great week - stop by in the upcoming week to see more crafts, recipes, whatever I can think of to make. And don't forget to enter for the blog 4th anniversary drawing - leave me a comment and your name either here on the blog or on the FB page before tomorrow (9/16) night to be entered to win a $25 gift card!

I know - 4 years! That's crazy.

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor and blogger of 1458 posts! 

MMDC 4th Anniversary

4 YEARS? Whaaaaaat? Seriously, Monday is the 4th anniversary of Make My Day Camp - and to my knowledge I've only missed one day in 1458 days. That means 1457 ideas for you to get crafty and creative!  I can't even thank you guys enough for continuing to read about my adventures, crafting, recipes, all the stuff that keeps me busy; you've looked at the blog over 43,000 times, not counting FB - when I started blogging it was just a way to share all my projects with someone other than my family (who get sick of my texting them my craft photos LOL) and I really, really hope you've been inspired by the ideas you see here (and if not inspired at least entertained haha).

To celebrate and say thanks, I'm going to have another drawing - this year I'd like you to leave me a comment and/or just your name, either here on the blog or on the blog's facebook page. Once you do, you'll be entered into the drawing for a $25 Michaels gift card. Remember I can't comment back if you leave me a note below, but I can read them! Many times your name appears as "anonymous" so make sure you tell me who you are :).

You can enter until Monday 9/16 at midnight est, drawing will take place Tuesday morning. Good luck - and thanks for the (blog) love!

I know, I know -  but couldn't help it!

My Sis is Hungry: battle of the zucchini breads

For 'my sis is hungry' review this week I made the zucchini bread posted here, and lemon zucchini bread posted here (click for the recipes) - here's what she has to say about them:

AHH Bread.. how I love you.  Refraining here from channeling my inner Oprah and yelling I LOVE BREAD! Haha.. but seriously.  Bread.

So my sister made me not one but 2 loaves of bread.  One “regular” and one lemon.  Both Zucchini. 

The “regular” zucchini bread was pretty traditional I thought.  Great flavor, classic, moist just delicious.  She did tell me it had wheat or something in it to healthy it up – but maybe she just told me that so I would like it more and give it a higher rating? Possible. 

I ate the first half without butter- didn’t need it at all.  Second half I did put butter on just to see.. and that was great too but didn’t need it.

Second loaf was Lemon zucchini bread and that was good too.  For me though that didn’t taste like bread at all.  It really tasted more like a coffee cake (a lemon flavored coffee cake), not like bread at all.  Couldn’t really taste the zucchini at all either so if you were trying to get your kids to get some hidden veggies this would be the way to do it.  The yummy glaze on the top also made it clear it wasn’t healthy so I couldn’t even pretend to be.  I did love it though - but delicious as a cake, not as a bread.

*Jill here - she's right: the regular zucchini bread is very moist and doesn't 'need' butter (but really, butter makes everything better doesn't it?!) and I did not tell her it's healthier so she'd rate higher hahah, it really does have whole wheat flour and applesauce in it. The lemon bread has a much 'blander' flavor without the cinnamon and nutmeg - I might experiment with leaving them in next time. It is indeed an awful lot like bread-shaped cake, which is delicious if you want cake instead of bread!

Lemon Zucchini Bread

I have a very large zucchini from Cassandra so you can guess what that means...it's zucchini bread week! This recipe is virtually the same as my regular zucchini bread (posted yesterday), but I add lemon juice to the batter, omit the spices, and drizzle with lemon glaze.


bread:

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 c. grated zucchini
• 2 t. lemon juice
• 1 t. vanilla
• 3 c. flour
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder

glaze: 

• 1/2 c. powdered sugar
• lemon juice 

Preheat oven 325'. Grease and flour 2 (8x4") bread pans.

Beat eggs, mix in oil and sugar and beat to combine. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. 

Combine dry ingredients, stir into egg mixture just until combined. Divide batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans. Bake about an hour until done (insert a toothpick or bamboo skewer to check for doneness). 

Mix the powdered sugar with enough lemon juice to make a pourable glaze, drizzle over the baked bread. You can pour over while the bread is warm, in which case it'll soak into the bread and you won't really see it; or drizzle after the bread is cool and you'll see the white glaze on top. 

Either way = delicious.

*note: in the above photo I made one full size loaf and 6 mini loaves - obviously you don't bake the mini size as long as the full size, mine were done in about 25 minutes. And I drizzled the glaze after the bread had cooled.


9.12.18:  how to make 'perfect' cheesecake
9.12.17: road trip - eclipse hunting
9.12.16: wood canister holder (junkin' with Candy)

Zucchini Bread

It's that time of year - the zucchini (what's the plural of zucchini? Zucchinis?) are plentiful and getting larger and larger (that reminds me of a post I did a long time ago - 'the hulk sized zucchini' hahahah) and what better thing to do with them than make bread? Yes I like zucchini noodles as much as the next girl but mmmm, bread is still better...

I have had this recipe for years, tried and true and delicious. This time I decided to make it a little 'healthier' by swapping one cup of regular flour with whole wheat flour. Then I worried it might be a little dry (it is very moist when I use all regular flour) so I added a big scoop of applesauce just in case. If you don't want to use whole wheat flour just do all 3 cups all-purpose white flour! The bread is moist and very flavorful with the addition of the cinnamon and nutmeg - plus the house smells fantastic while it's baking ;)

• 3 eggs
• 1 cup oil
• 2 c. sugar
• 2 c. grated zucchini*
• 2 t. lemon juice
• 1 t. vanilla
• 3 c. all-purpose flour (or swap some for whole wheat - I did 2 c. white flour, 1 c. whole wheat)
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 3 t. cinnamon
• 1 t. nutmeg

Preheat oven 325'. Grease and flour 2 (8x4") bread pans.

Beat eggs, mix in oil and sugar and beat to combine. Stir in zucchini and vanilla. 

Combine dry ingredients, stir into egg mixture just until combined. Divide batter evenly between the 2 prepared pans. Bake about an hour until done (insert a toothpick or bamboo skewer to check for doneness).

*note: click here to see how to use the shredding disk of your food processor if you have one.


9.11.17: "sweet" candy gift
9.11.18: blueberry sauce