Candy Cane Crinkles

This is a new recipe that I must share with you because they are so tasty!!!   A wonderful friend sent me the recipe and they are just prefect for this holiday season. 

3 Candy Canes (Crushed)

1/2 cup butter

1 cup Sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla 

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 baking powder

1 1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup white chocolate chips

1/2 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup powder sugar for rolling

Start out by crushing up those candy canes.

In a mixer beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add in vanilla and egg.  Combine all dry ingredients together and add to the mixture.   Fold in your chocolate chips and candy canes. 

Using 1 Tbsp scoop out dough balls.  Roll in your hands then in the powdered sugar. Place onto cookie sheet (lined with parchment paper) and squish with the bottom of a cup.  

Bake cookies at 350 for 12 minutes. 

* If using 1 Tbsp for each cookie this batch will make 2 dozen cookies. 

Fall Favorites

 Fall is such a beautiful time of year!  The trees are bursting with vibrant colours that make Sunday afternoon drives a must during this season.  And what is an Autumn drive without a warm drink in hand (probably something pumpkin flavoured), boots on your feet and a family trip to the orchard to pick apples.   Can I just say I LOVE seeing family photos of everyone out picking apples! What special memories you are making with your families.   

   This week we are getting ready to celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday which means the kids don't have school a few days this week.  So I wanted to put together some Fall Favorites that you and your families can enjoy creating, baking and eating.  

Lets start with this fun pumpkin turkey craft that we enjoy making as decorations for our Thanksgiving table.   

See how lovely this looks for our feast!  Also a here is the link to these awesome Thanksgiving placemats and utensil holders. 

Here is another fun fall activity that the kids LOVE doing....I mean who doesn't love painting their hand ;)  You paint their hand like a turkey (all brown) and each finger a different fall colour for the feathers. When it dries you add a goggly eye, little orange beak and a red turkey flapper.  heheh.

Now lets move on to those apples, since most of you have probably picked 10- 20 lb!!!  

 Apple Nachos make a great afternoon school or late night snack.  These can be made in so many different ways depending on what you have around the house and what you like.  The combinations are endless.  

 Caution....this Salted Caramel recipe is deadly and highly addictive!  Last year we decided to give little mason jars, topped with an apple to those special teachers in our lives.  We made cute little labels that said "I couldn't have picked a better teacher"

Oh man I am getting excited to get to that orchard to get our apples because I LOVE these caramel apples.   These make great little gifts to give out to neighbours, teachers or friends during this season.  And while we are here shall I share a little life hack with you about eating HUGE apples like this?    I remove the stick and take a sharp knife to cut the apples into a half then half again.  This gives everyone a chance to try all the different flavours and nobody breaks their teeth. 

Can you feel the excitement??

Now lets talk about all those crab apples that are along the side of the road and in our back yard.  Sure they are not good for eating but have you ever made delicious homemade apple jelly with them???  If not you must try.  

It can't be fall with out the flavour of pumpkin!!!  

These Monkey Bread Muffins make a delicious fall afternoon snack! Be sure to enjoy with a nice hot drink...and a friend ;) 

These pumpkin pie cupcakes are almost too cute to eat! 

This combination of ginger snap cookie and pumpkin pie cream cheese just screams AUTUMN!!!  Be sure to put these whoopie pies on your fall baking menu. 

These muffins are made weekly in this house because they make great snacks and lunches.  These Pumpkin Spice Muffins are for sure our Fall Favorite. 

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

I just have to share this recipe because it is so delicious!!!  They are very easy to make in a hurry, they freeze wonderful and everyone LOVES them.  They are the prefect "fall" muffin.

1 cup pumpkin
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

This is one of those amazing recipes where you put everything into the mixer, in order it is listed.  Mix for a minute or two until everything is combined.  Spoon into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.

Father's Day Menu

We had such a great Fathers day celebrating my amazing husband!!!  I know he LOVES my cookin so I wanted to prepare an amazing BBQ supper for him. So here is the delicious menu I whipped up. 

Ribs taste so much better when they are cooked for a long period of time so first thing in the morning I started to prepare the ribs.  The first thing to preparing moist, melt in your mouth ribs, is to remove the thin layer of membrane that lays on the back of the ribs .  Then seasoned them with a delicious rub and put them into the crock pot.  You can read my rib recipe over here.

For a side dish I whipped up this delicious loaded baked potato salad.  This was so yummy and will be a hit at any of your next summer get togethers.

We LOVE cornbread around here but it is even better cooked in the cast iron skillet.  Here is my scrumptious recipe. 

Now lets move onto dessert!!!  This peach pie has become one of our family favorites.  It is very simple to make, but it does require time to set in the refrigerator so be sure to prepare in advance. 

Incase you can't read my recipe you can find it in full over here. 

It was my first time making a strawberry rhubarb pie and I must say that the family enjoyed it very much!  It was the prefect balance of sweet and tart.  This is defiantly a pie that was easy to make and you could have the ingredients in your freezer year round.   I have picked and chopped up my rhubarb and frozen 4 cups in a freezer bag with PIE written on it. That way when rhubarb season is over I will have the prefect amount ready to make this pie. 

And there you have it our delicious Fathers Day menu!  Hope you get to try out some of these recipes :)  

Skillet Corn Bread

Corn Bread is such a wonderful addition to so many meals but when it is baked in a skillet it just enters a whole new world of awesome!   I have tried a lot of different corn bread recipes but this is my FAV!

Recipe

1 cup flour
1 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

In a large bowl combine all dry ingredients.  In a small bowl combine all wet ingredients.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix well.

In a skillet melt (1/4 cup of butter or shortening) over medium heat.  When the butter is fully melted and sizzles a little bit add in your batter.  Cook for 1-2  minutes - The batter will sizzle and the butter will come up the sides and onto the top of the batter.

Place skillet into a pre heated oven 400 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.

This recipe is absolutely delicious.  It compliments chilli, soups and ribs very well.  It also makes a yummy dessert when served with honey or maple syrup.

BBQ Ribs

This rib recipe was absolutely delicious!!!   I am going to try to walk you through what I did to make a melt in your mouth ribs.  

I started by removing the tough membrane that covers the bony side of the ribs.  This helps the ribs to be moist and not tough and chewy.  Next I used a basic rub mix that we keep in our house,  this is the recipe that my husband uses.   Make sure your ribs are covered in this mixtures.   Once they were covered I actually put the ribs in tinfoil and stuffed them into my crock pot.  They were really big and didn't fit nicely in there so I covered the top of the crock pot with tinfoil instead of using the lid.  I wish I had a picture of it...then I left the ribs to cook on high while we were at church (2 hours) and then low for the rest of the afternoon.  

About 1/2 an hour before we were ready to eat I fried up the grill to get a nice colour on them.  While they were grilling I coated them in a homemade BBQ sauce.  

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ketchup

Molasses

Cider Vinegar

Hickory BBQ sauce

liquid smoke (this is so delicious) 

Pour all ingredients in a pot and let simmer.  This is key to a good BBQ sauce flavour is making sure you have cooked it all together.  If it is too thick you can add some water to it. 

Coat well in BBQ sauce and serve hot!!  

Frozen Hot Chocolate

This has been my year for Hot Chocolate.  All winter long I have enjoyed a delicious hot cup in the evenings topped with whipped cream and a pinch of salt (I know sounds weird but trust me you MUST try it...so delicious).   Last summer I discovered frozen hot chocolate from our local second cup and its something I crave on those hot summer days.  So I decided to search for a recipe and then create my own.  So here is my frozen hot chocolate treat.

Ice
Hot chocolate mix
Coco powder
Milk
Whip cream
Pinch of salt
Sprinkles (for the kids).

In a blender combine ice, hot chocolate mix, coco powder (1 tbsp) and milk (1 1/2 cups per hot chocolate pouch).  When combined pour into cups and serve topped with whip cream and a pinch of salt.

Enjoy on those hot summer days.

Easter Popcorn

We LOVE popcorn around here and during the Easter season we LOVE mini eggs...so why not combine two of our favourites together to get this delicious Party in your Month!!   I wish I could say that I came up with this idea on my own but I did not.  It was friends of ours who opened our eyes to this addictive treat.  

It is simple 

Popcorn popped with lots of butter and salt and a few handfuls of mini eggs tossed into the mix :)   It is so delightful getting a huge handful or sweet and salty.  

No bake birds nest

This are such a fun and delicious spring time treat that is super easy to make.  All you need is 4 ingredients.

1 bag Chocolate Chips

1 bag Butterscotch Chips

1/2 bag Chow Mein Noodles

Mini Eggs 

Melt your chips together then add in about 1/2 the bag of noodles. Place by spoonfuls into a greased muffin pan or you can use beautiful spring coloured muffin liners.  With a spoon (or your fingers) make an indent for the nest. Refrigerate for a few hours then add as many mini eggs to your nest as you would like. 

These look so beautiful used as place settings for your Easter Supper.  They also make fun welcome to spring treats :) 

Rainbow Cake

With Spring just around the corner Jaelyn and I decided to whip up a fun and colourful snack.   The idea of these beautiful coloured cakes cooked in lovely little mason jars topped with whip cream or ice cream seemed like a totally enjoyable treat...however that is not what happened!  

Jaelyn is gaining more confidence in the kitchen on her own but since we are running low on flour she had to use a box cake mix.  She followed the directions herself to make the cake. 

Once the batter was made up I poured it into 6 different bowls and she added food colouring to each bowl. 

Next we poured about 1 Tbsp of each coloured batter in 6 mason jars.  Doesn't it look like it was such a delightful time :) Mean while on the other side of the counter was the mess...

The beautiful coloured mason jars went into the oven and I could hardly wait to get that prefect picture of my awesome little rainbow jars, imagine my shock when THIS is what came out of the oven...  

The prefect PIN FAIL picture for you.  

In steps creativity (thanks to all those cooking shows we have been watching) so we turned the jars upside down and the cakes came right out (be sure to spray the jars) we then took the little cake log and started slicing it into these beautiful little cake wheels which are great for making your own little rainbow.  

We also made little cake sandwiches with ice cream between two wheels. 

My idea didn't turn out like I wanted it to but I had so much fun watching my sweet girl in the kitchen  and spending time with her that I didn't care and to be honest the kids just ate it up no questions asked. 

Jamberry Review

Tonight I am stepping out of the kitchen to write a review for what I think about Jamberry Nails.  I have heard about these wonderful "sticker" nails for a while and when I see my friend (mama of 7) recommending and wearing them I think to myself these puppies MUST be good for a busy gal like her...so I wanted to try them to see if they could stand up and stay pretty on a domestic engineer. 

Before I received my sample nails in the mail I decided to pick up nail stickers from our local Dollarma.  These nails are made by revlon and cost me $3.00.  The first thing I noticed when I opened the package was the strong smell they had.  They smelt like nail polish or polish remover.  The directions where easy to follow, but the nails didn't want to come off the wrapper easily so I lost one trying to figure out how to peel the backing off.  They went on nice and filed off fine.  They do not take long to do and if I was needed by a child, I stopped attended to that need and went back to doing my nails without smudging them :) 

The looked nice and felt light on my nails.  However they couldn't hold up to how many times my hands get washed, wash dishes and shower....within 24 hours this is what they looked like. 

After 2 days some of them where completely off.  I thought I could simply peel the rest off but I had to soak my finger nails in remover to try to get it off and still that didn't get it all off one finger :( 

I was so excited to get my Jamberry package in the mail from sweet Melody!   

Jaelyn and I had a good laugh cause she liked the pink ones which where for me and I loved her blue ones :)  We had a fun mama/daughter evening putting on our new nails.   The difference between these and the other ones was there was NO smell and they peeled off easily.  Also they are arranged on the sheet in a way that they can be cut in half allowing each wrap to do two nails.  

The first time applying was pretty easy.  I did have problems with getting an air pocket in a few of them causing the tip to flip up a little but Melody was so kind to help me fix this by telling me to cut my nail a bit to make it even.   The bottom of the nail never came off and they didn't chip.  The only reason they didn't last the full two weeks (or 1 week) is because I am a picker....I know its a bad habit!  I even did this to my wedding nails 3 days after I had them done and we were on our honey moon. 

After 5 days of dishes, hand washing, showering, bathing children and tying hundreds of balloons for a church function they where still on.  You are lucky I got this picture cause I was picking them off really bad and thought oh wait I should take a picture first. 

 The removal for these was amazing.  I literally pulled each one off in one piece and no remover was needed.


Now lets move on to the Jamberry Juniors.

My little girl loves having her nails done.  We will sit and paint them, she fans them around until they are dry and with in 2 seconds they are smudged.  And before the day is over the polish is always gone!  We thought we would give this a try for her.

Her nails are very very short because she bites them!  When I put them on her I used the finger nail chippers to cut down to her nail.  Unfortunately because the nail was so short they didn't get a good seal on them and the fell off before the end of the day.   I did promise her that if she lets her nails grow out we can try again because we have enough on this sheet to do 2 manicures and still have a few for accent nails. 

My overall review is I am sold on Jamberry!  Once you get the hang of applying the wraps it goes very quickly, but for real if you only have a few minutes here and there you could take all day to get them done if you needed to, since you can do one nail at a time if little people need you :) And if one chips or you pick it off you can take that one off and replace it without having to do them all over again.  

There are so many beautiful designs you feel so fancy wearing such pretty nails and who doesn't like to have their nails done every now and than to feel a little fancy.   Even if you don't do your nails often I think that just like that bottle of nail polish you have in the bathroom cupboard from 10 years ago you should also have a thing of Jamberry Nails on hand for those I need a boost types of days. 

I love celebrations and all special occasions so I love that Jamberry can help you have the prefect nails for Valentines day, Christmas, St. Patricks day, Easter, your son/daughters basketball game, coffee beans for coffee dates and sheet music for those music festivals. 

You can get 3-4 applications from 1 sheet so why not buy one together with a friend (or a couple friends) and have a fun night of manicures.