Dessert Cheeseball

This recipe is from my niece, Mickey (well - Meghan made the cheeseball, and Mick wrote the post and sent me the picture...so credit goes to both of them!) Thanks for sharing with us M & M! 

Tired of a boring old cheeseball? Well, how about a dessert cheese ball! For the super bowl last night, my friend Meghan made this cheeseball that was too good not to share. You will need only 5 ingredients (the original recipe called for chocolate syrup but she didn’t use that). Cream together 1/2 cup of unsalted butter (kind of soft), cream cheese (1 square) and powdered sugar (2 cups). Leave out a couple spoonfuls for the laces (put into a ziplock bag). Crush Oreos (18 Oreos), and mix into the creamed sugar mixture. Cover with Saran Wrap (sprinkle the Saran Wrap with sugar so it doesn’t stick) and mold into a football. Coat with mini chocolate chips (1 cup), draw your laces using the bag with the tip cut off and chill for one hour! Serve with wafers, pretzels or be like me and eat it with a spoon! 

Jill again: um, yum. How good does this sound? I thought she might have to thin the reserved cream cheese mixture for the laces but nope - it's thick but she was able to pipe it. And of course you don't have to only shape this into a football if you want to eat it on a random day haha, just shape into a round ball!

2.10.20: fabric flower pins

2.10.19: 🔥week 6 (and there's a cute Valentine bookmark idea)

2.10.18: organizing food containers

2.10.17: two toned swirly frosting

2.10.16: layered jello parfait perfect for Valentine's day

Tip-sy Tuesday: Baking Center Organizing

Just a quick idea today - how to organize all those cookie cutters, sprinkles, decorations, etc that are floating around in your cupboard.

I've had my cookie cutters grouped in categories, labeled and put in baggies for awhile now (I posted about that way back in 2015!) but I took it one step further and put everything in plastic shelf/drawers things (what are these called, hmmm...I guess organizers?) that fit in my cupboard. I can just pull out a drawer and easily find what I need - sprinkles have a couple drawers, same for cookie cutters; I have a drawer for food colors, candles, cake decorating, etc. 

Maybe not necessary for most people, but I have ALOT of this stuff and I love being able to just open a drawer and grab something!

2.9.20: 🔥week 6

2.9.19: monthly maintenance projects

2.9.18: colored pencil tattoos

2.9.17: sweet potato toast

2.9.16: 'bee mine' honey bear

Valentine Caterpillar by Brooke

Here's another cute Valentine craft from Brooke - I loved the bumblebee, heart wreath, and pickup truck that she made last week but this is my favorite. Cute and easy - perfect kid craft! Here's what she did, in her words:

hey guys! Today I made this super cute Valentine’s Day caterpillar. All I used was paper, scissors, a marker, glue, and googley eyes! First I cut out 5 small hearts and 1 bigger size heart in red and pink paper. Then I glued them down moving left to right. after they were all glued I drew him some legs, a mouth, some antlers, then put the eyes on! He was so easy to make and he is so cute!

2.8.20: double chocolate kisses cookies

2.8.19: diy: air freshener

2.8.18: make a heart-felt Valentine card

2.8.17: mini bundt brownies

2.8.16: Valentine slider box (to hold chocolates)

🔥Around the Campfire (week 6)

 Dear Campers ~

Here's a quick recap in case you missed anything at camp this past week:

Posts ~

1/31: 🔥week 5

2/1: pleated paper heart

2/2: tip-sy tuesday: room temperature butter

2/3: layered heart cookies

2/4: bee valentine (posted 2/6)

2/5: valentine paper wreath

2/6: valentine pickup truck

What's Cooking ~

• baked scallops, pine nut couscous, chopped kale salad
• homemade mac and cheese, steamed broccoli
• crockpot country ribs with mushroom sauce, mashed cauliflower, green beans
• air fryer salmon, couscous, roasted asparagus
• shake and bake pork chops, roasted carrots, mixed vegetables
• baked chicken breast, roasted butternut squash, green salad

Miscellaneous stuff keeping me busy ~

• read 'For Whom the Bread rolls' by Sarah Fox. Another mystery with recipes series (what is it about this genre of mysteries solved by chefs - or in this case by a woman who owns a restaurant - that includes recipes?) This is #2 in her 'Pancake House Mystery' series, I'm waiting on #1 from the library - don't love it, don't hate it. I'll read another and see if I like it better before giving up on the series 
• read 'Rules of Prey' by John Sandford, #1 in a very long series that I'm very excited to be starting from the beginning. I've read most of them (he's up to like maybe 25?) but if I've read the first ones I've forgotten them - great thing about having a bad memory, everything old is new again LOL. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ great book if you like thriller/serial killer/bad guys and good guys. Which I do. 

Have a great week - stop by often to see what else I think of (or get others to contribute!) to make at camp this week! Brooke has at least one more valentine craft and I think it's the best one yet :) Bye!

Sincerely ~

Jill

camp counselor

2.7.20: candy slider box

2.7.19: hide a key container

2.7.18: oatmeal chocolate cranberry cookies

2.7.17: sliding side lunge

2.7.16: "Palentine"/Valentine dinner menu

Valentine Pickup Truck by Brooke

hey guys! I made this super easy valentines truck - it’s so cute! All you need is craft paper, popsicle sticks,a red marker, scissors, and glue or tape. 

First I colored 4 popsicle sticks red, then I taped them together on the back and put a smaller piece of a stick overtop to help hold them together. I cut out 2 pink hearts, and the front of the truck and the top. Then I glued the truck pieces on the popsicle sticks for the front and top of the truck and glued the hearts on the back to make it look like they were in the bed. After that I cut out a window and 2 tires then glued them on! This was so easy and so fun to make and it turned out so cute!

2.6.20: alligator pear salad

2.6.19: sheet pan curried shrimp biryani

2.6.18: making a master grocery list

2.6.17: making heart artwork from dots 

2.6.16: Nana's pralines - I haven't made these in a long time, they are SO good!!!

Bumblebee Valentine

Oh My Gosh I love this so much. Brooke made the cutest bumblebee valentine and it makes me happy to just look at it hahahha. Here's what she did, in her words:

(note: I just realize this was supposed to be posted Thursday and it didn't go - so now you get 2 fun Valentine's Day crafts today!) 

Today I made this super cute bumble bee Valentine’s Day card! 

All I used was paper, scissors, double sided tape, and a marker! 

First I took a yellow piece of paper and folded it in half and drew a heart with one side of the heart touching the crease in the paper. You need it to be on that crease so it stays connected for the top heart (head) of the bee. Be careful when cutting your heart out to not cut the crease. then after that I used that heart as a stencil to cut out the rest of the hearts. The other hearts are single pieces of paper, not doubled over like the head heart. I cut 2 blue hearts, 2 black hearts, and 1 more yellow heart. Then i cut out 2 tiny yellow hearts and 2 black rectangles for the antenna. Then I put one black heart down, put double sided tape on the top of it, and put the yellow one on top. Then the same with the yellow putting the other back heart on top. Then I put the yellow heart that can open on top. I drew a face and wrote on the inside. Then I put the tiny yellow hearts on the top of the rectangles. After I flipped my bee over and taped the antennas and wings on. Then you have a super cute bee!!🥰

 2.4.20: tip ~ messy lily pollen

2.4.19: man-day monday

2.4.18: last minute super bowl ideas

2.4.17: super bowl party games

2.4.16: super bowl party planner

Valentine's Wreath by Brooke

hi guys! Today I made a valentines wreath. It was so easy. All I used was paper, stapler, and some ribbon. first I cut out 9 strips of paper about 2 inches wide. then I took one, folded it in half, then put the other ends together to make a heart shape, and stapled them together. I did that to every strip of paper. then after I finished making all of my hearts I stapled each heart together in a circle shape. Then I used ribbon and stapled it in between the hearts at the top! (See pictures)

2.5.20: baked pork chops

2.5.19: heart shaped cork trivet

2.5.18: paracord camera wrist strap

2.5.17: crock pot mac and cheese

2.5.16: valentine poppers

Valentine Layered Cookies

I wanted to make 2 layer cookies that have a window in the top cookie showing jam thru the cut out opening (I saw some in a catalog and knew I could replicate them). So I googled for a good cookie dough recipe - something like a sugar cookie or shortbread, a firm cookie that stays flat when baking. Came across a recipe that sounded good, had a few good reviews, and seemed right. 

Yeah, so here's something I should already know - you can't trust a recipe just because it's on the internet. And you can't trust reviews! 

I've never made a cookie dough that would not hold together, whether from the fridge or room temp it just wouldn't work. I got the room temp dough to stick enough to roll out a few cookies by wetting my hands and really pressing the dough down but they are very cobbled together cookies, the dough that I chilled became like a ball of concrete that I couldn't roll out - I couldn't even stick a finger into it no matter how hard I pressed! Crazy - I ended up throwing that dough away. 

Needless to say I'm not even bothering to share the recipe - but the cookies that I was able to make turned out so pretty that I'm sharing the idea. Use a sugar cookie or shortbread recipe that you know you like, or I'd even try a store-bought tube of dough and roll it pretty thin - you need 2 cookies to make 1 complete cookie so you'll want them to be thin since they'll be stacked on top of each other.

The idea is very easy actually - roll out the dough to about 1/8" thickness, cut out circles (mine are 2 1/2" diameter). Using a small heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out a heart from one-half of the circles. Bake until just slightly golden brown (don't over bake, you want the cookies to stay fairly white for presentation). Cool on a wire rack.

Once cool, spoon less than a teaspoon of jam in the middle of one of the solid circles, don't spread too close to the edge or it'll squish out. Top with a cookie that has the heart cut out of it, showing the jam from the bottom cookie. Sprinkle with powdered sugar. 

I baked the small heart cut-outs along side of the larger circles, filled them with a little jam and sprinkled with powdered sugar - a one bite delish cookie! Note: I used my homemade black and blue jam for the darker colored ones but it's a little chunky so the two cookies have a little gap between them, I also did some with good old Smuckers and then they weren't quite as thick - either way totally works! 

2.3.20: doctored up brownies

2.3.19: 🔥week 5

2.3.18: football toss game

2.3.17: root beer bbq pulled pork

2.3.16: cookie bites

Tip-sy Tuesday: room temperature butter

I wanted to make cookies this morning but forgot to take the butter out beforehand so it could come to room temperature (cookies usually need room temp butter or else you can't cream it for the batter). So thought I'd share a tip that works for me - cut up the butter into pieces and put on a plate; put a couple cups of hot water in a bowl, and set the plate on top for a few minutes. Otherwise just set the butter on your counter and walk away for at least an hour. I don't have a photo - it's butter on a plate on a bowl of hot water, use your imagination :)

2.2.20: 🔥week 5

2.2.19: groundhog day card or decoration

2.2.18: super bowl games

2.2.17: preserved lemons

2.2.16: organizing wrapping and tissue paper

Pleated Paper Heart

These pleated paper hearts are very easy and quick to make - perfect for Valentine's day obviously, but how cute would these be on top of a gift for a shower or wedding? Or string them and hang from a window, or tack on a bulletin board...whatever you can think of! I found the template online at martha stewart, but it's just a 6 3/4" x 3" rectangle with the corners rounded. Fold the paper accordion style about 3/8", fold in half and stick the center edges together - voila, a heart. 

I made this out of decorative scrapbook paper, I didn't try it but think cardstock might be too heavy - you want a lightweight paper that is easy to fold in narrow strips. Think velum, wrapping paper, colored printer paper, etc. 

Isn't this cute?! 

 click here for original source

2.1.20: Miss Lori's winter wreath

2.1.19: Jen's baby poop party dip

2.1.18: squat challenge

2.1.17: triple berry muffins

2.1.16: repurposed frame