Fabulous Fakes

Back when I was a younger woman, the only way to make Christmas candy was to pull out the big heavy cast iron pot, and slave over the hot stove, in the hopes that, what ever you were making, would not burn.
Otherwise it was trashed and you had to start over.

I guess it was about twenty or so years ago now, that I attended a women's night with my church, where they proceeded to amaze and delight us with homemade candy, while we worked on other projects. At the end of the work night they had a stack of papers with those delicious candy recipes on.

Imagine the chatter that ensued when we saw the lists of ingredients!

Allow me to share.

Just a note: "Summer Coating" can be replaced with microwave melted chocolate chips and work just fine.

Dollar Mints
Melt chocolate flavored "Summer Coating" over warm water, in a double boiler. With a fork, dip "Ritz" crackers into coating. Tapping off excess. Slide coated cracker onto wax paper. When it has hardened, place into a shallow, plastic container (such as Tupperware) Make layers, with wax paper in between, placing small balls of cotton with a small amount of mint flavoring on them in a few places between layers. Put the lid on tightly and let stay 3-5 days. The peppermint flavoring will permeate through the coating and the crackers.


Peanut Butter Bites
Spread peanut butter on a cheese cracker (I like Nabisco Cheese Nips). Top with another cracker, making a sandwich. Dip into melted chocolate flavored "Summer Coating", slide coated sandwich onto wax paper and let harden.

Turtles and Frogs
Line a Cookie Sheet with foil or waxed paper. Brush with shortening. Pile small mounds of nuts, leaving an inch to an inch and a half between mounds. Unwrap a Caramel and pinch into a flat disc. Lay on top of a half of a walnut or pecan and slip into a 300 degree oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch it carefully! You want the caramel to just soften and encase the nut. Dip in chocolate flavored "Summer Coating".

OR
Place twisted pretzel's on a foil lined cookie sheet sprayed with Pam, Place a Rollo on top, slip into oven until the Rollo is softened, remove from oven and press a walnut or Pecan half into the center.

Candy Spiders
5 oz. Can of Chinese noodles
1 Can Salted peanuts
2 6oz. pkg. Butterscotch morsels
Melt morsels and add other ingredients, mix then drop by the teaspoon full on waxed paper.

Hello Dollies
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1 Stick (1/2 cup) melted butter in a 9X12 cake pan.
Sprinkle 1 Cup of Graham cracker crumbs over this. Sprinkle 1 Cup of coconut, then 1 pkg of Chocolate chips. Cover with a can of sweetened condensed milk and bake at 350 degree's for 15 to 20 minutes.
Cut into squares and serve.

Now for my favorite fakes...

Rocca Rectangles

Line a large cookie sheet or Jelly roll pan (10 1/2 x 15 1/2 inches) with tin foil. Turn the edges of the foil up to form a pan. Spray with Pam. Put a single layer of Saltine crackers on top of the foil, cutting the last row to fit.

In a heavy pan put:
2 cubes (1 cup) Butter
1 Cup Brown sugar

Bring to a boil and allow to boil for 3 minutes, stirring as needed. Pour carefully over crackers and use the back of a tablespoon to cover. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 7 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle a package of chocolate chips over the top, can slid back into cooling oven to help melt them, then use the bake of a tablespoon to spread the melted chocolate over the top, can sprinkle chopped nuts over the top (If you like nuts that is).
They break into squares really easy when they are warm or cooled.

Cheater Cherry Chocolates

Use a sheet cake pan or large cake pan 9x 13 inch.

4 packages of semi sweet chocolate chips
3/4 Cup chopped Spanish peanuts
3/4 Cup Chunky peanut butter
1 Can Cherry frosting
20 to 25 (30 if using a large pan or want a thicker center) Large Marshmallows

Melt 2 pkg. chocolate chips and peanut butter and peanuts in microwave safe bowl, mix. Spread in the bottom of the Pam sprayed pan. Chill in fridge while you melt marshmallows in microwave, then add the can of frosting, stir until mixed in good. Spread this over the top of the chilled chocolate layer. Chill while you repeat the top layer of chocolate and peanut butter and peanuts. Spread over the top of the chilled cherry filling. Chill. Cut into squares and eat or wrap or set on a plate and enjoy.

Divinity



Honey likes divinity.

When we were dating, almost thirty seven years ago, I tried to make some for him.

Oh, It looked so pretty resting there on the thin layer of waxed paper covering one of his Aunt's plates. I slid it into the fridge until he arrived.

I was so proud that I had made this delicacy for him.

However, that is not what was pulled from the refrigerator shelf.

No.

That, was his Aunt's plate covered with a gooey, sticky, slim covered piece of wilted waxed paper.

And bless his country boy heart, he tried to eat some of it, then he told me, It did taste better than it looked, quickly and quietly he did add, But you should maybe not try that for a while, after all it's the thought that counts.

Taking his advice to heart, and knowing that divinity is a very touchy thing to make.

I mean you have to factor in the weather and humidity. Probably what color your wearing and the direction of the wind.

Reallly.

I waited these thirty six years to give it a try again.

The first experience was traumatic to my ego  , not really safe for human consumption, such a flop.

Then recently a friend of mine mentioned that she was going to give it a try, for someone needing it for memory reason's.

Whell now.

That got me to thinking, it has been a really long time since Honey has had divinity.

And a few days before I had found this really old recipe and thought if I couldn't trust a great grandmother who could I trust?

Today was the day to try.

The sun was shining.

It hadn't rained or snowed for a while...

The weather was on my side.

So praying for divinity loving angel's help. 

To work I went.

Before long the sugar mixture was boiling happily while I dug out the electric mixer and beat the egg whites to perfect texture.

While mixing everything together I got a little worried, because you see, it was causing my poor old (really old) mixer to struggle and even smoke a little.

Nuts added.

And that right there is only because Honey likes them, not me.

The waxed paper had been spread out in advance, so all I had to do at this point was drop teaspoon sized globs of the divinity mixture onto it at this point...

And it is pertiful! (Both pretty and beautiful).

So good it melts in your mouth.

I guess that's what I could call the "Sweet taste of success"...

Thanks Divinity loving Angel's!!

Busy Weekend Round 1

With the count down started in earnest things are kicking into high gear around here to meet self imposed dead lines.

While MomMa has been busy baking I have been busy making.

Her cookies turned out as tasty as they were pretty. Three batches of three different kinds later, they were off to deliver... the first round of Christmas sweetness.

I was busy on the other side of the kitchen making flowers...I love flowers.

I have added to my collection from HERE added a few Yo-yo's to the mix and Viola!

What I have noticed as I've been making is this: why does my list of things to make seem to only come to mind scant weeks before Christmas instead of in time to actually get the projects done?

Next year I will try to do better and miss this mad rush of last minutes things, sit back and enjoy the magic a little more :)

Playing With Strings...

I like making a piece of string into something I can wear. 

~Author Unknown

It snowed today.

Right after the wind blew really hard and then the rains started up, followed closely by sleet, it was at that time the snows came.

Well let me just tell you.

I knew it was going to do this very thing.

I didn't know what day exactly.

But history has been pretty good at proving that this kind of stuff would be happening...again.

So I try to prepare.

Being a Grammy means that it can be sort of scary for the grandchildren, one never knows what I will be coming up with to ward off the cold.

A few years ago I dug out my multi-colored stash of strings and made hats.

Knit hat's, crochet hats, hats with bills and hats without.

I think they even turned out pretty good.

As in, I think everyone liked them.

I think...

The asking for more in additional color's, sort of helped me solidify my thinking there.

And headbands too.

Being a little more nervous about them, because not a lot of people were wearing them, yet.

That has happily changed since.

Feeling bad that I didn't get pictures of everyone in their hat's, I have soothed myself with the ones I did find of Tiny Dancer.

Talking her into modeling this years masterpiece, I further consoled myself with more pictures.

It appears I can not have to many of those either.  

Tiny Dancer is a pretty good model for me, sometimes, usually until she gets tired of it all then starts pulling faces at me and we both start laughing to much.

This hat pattern was my very first etsy store purchase.

I was petrified that I was going to mess things up really bad. However with a lot of help from Ele, our very kind and patient, etsy shop owner, the transaction was a lot of fun too. In fact, if she were my neighbor, I would have baked her cookies to thank her!  

I got my chapeau pattern ordered and made.

In a smattering of various sizes and colors.

So once again when the season's began to change, I was pretty sure that heads and ears would be once again needing some help staying warm and viola! Out my crochet hook's, knitting needles, and umpteen hue's of stings have come... 

This is one of the children's size I made from Ele's pattern two years ago...

This years version received a few extra rows to go down a little farther.

Yep, those are the same yo-yo flowers from two years ago...

That right there is the beauty of making them into pins or clips...

It's my favorite hat to make.
Click HERE if you would like to order this pattern.

Headbands work really good, on windy days. 
Better for the braids to bee seen don't you know.

     It took me years and years of trial efforts to work out that there is absolutely no knitting (or crochet) triumph I can achieve that my husband will think is worth being woken up for.

~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee,

At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

Time.

Time passes.

It’s ever constant.
Birthdays pass, couples wed, buildings fall and careers end.
“My life is slipping through my fingers,” they say.

My wool passes through my fingers.
I knit for birthdays, housewarmings and those who are ill.
My fingers remind me of the value of my time as I spend it knitting for others and knitting for myself.

The most constant reminder of time is when it’s stolen.
When someone dies,

 knitting has been my solace.
I knit to remember.
I knit to mourn.
I knit to commemorate.
I knit in a connection to time.

To it’s presence on me.
To reclaim the ownership of “me” time.
To pass it.
To relish in it.
To know it.

Time is knitting for me.

Both slip through my fingers.

And both are the fabric of my life.

Nicole Hindes

http://allbuttonedup.wordpress.com/2006/08/22/time-is-knitting-a-poem/



Knitting

I know that close on the heel's of Fall, Winter will be tripping in with plenty of snow and blow to delight many a child.

Trouble is...

Snow tends to make my toe's cold. Once that happen's I have a very hard time getting warmed back up.

Since I like warm feet, and love homemade sock's, I thought I'd get busy making some...

Some Of My Cooking Stories...

I am not stretching the truth when I say I am not a great cook. I don't even consider myself a good cook...most of the time.

But every once and again I surprise even myself!

Having mastered cookies, after forgetting to put oatmeal in my oatmeal raisin cookies and having to call my mom, in tears, to ask why mine didn't look like hers always did. She had me read through the recipe with her, I continued to bake while I went over it, when we got to the last item on the list of ingredient's, and the last batch in the oven to bake, it dawned on me that I had forgotten, the most important ingredient. She taught me to laugh and try again.

I have totally given up on any kind of jam making, except for freezer jam. Strawberry and raspberry to be exact.

Yes I have a story for that too.

After conquering cookies, I got the hair brained idea, a few years later, to try my hand at peach jam.

Not a good thing.

But it did turn out to be pretty good syrup. We used it on pancakes and ice cream. for a couple of years.

Then a whole lot of years later, I got the jam making itch again. This time I thought I would make apricot jam with a nut floating in it like my Grandma used to make. Just like my mom's story had told me, how good it was and how much fun they had seeing who would get the treat of getting the nut.

I got a bushel of apricots, jam bottles, and all the necessities for the project. Called my mom, before starting for a few pointer's, then went to work.

She called me the next day to see how it turned out.

Informing her that I would never again, in this life, undertake such a project, she inquired about it. I told her it took stinking long to stand there at the sink and peel all the skins off those little things! She laughed so hard I could almost hear the tear's dripping off her chin! Upon regaining some of her composure, she choked out that you don't peel them you just cut off the bad parts and leave the rest on and blend them along with the fruit.

The skinless apricot syrup was, again, used for pancakes and ice cream, until it too was used up.

Freezer jam, I can do and it works every time. I'm sticking with that.

So you can imagine my surprise when I cook something and it works out, looks good and tastes good too.

Another confession here is that I like the taste of bell pepper's but I don't like the texture of eating them. Also I don't much care to eat them stuffed. It seems it's always just a fancy way to slip a meatloaf past  unsuspecting folks.

But years and years ago.

Back to the cookie lesson day's.

I was at a group luncheon where a different kind of stuffed peppers were served, along with the recipes for them. I tried the one I liked best, at home, and they turned out good.

I put the recipe up and forgot about it until the other day.

I dug through my oldest recipe gathering folder searching for 'Ham and rice stuffed peppers'. I couldn't find it, so I googled it. And between all of them I sort of came up with my own.

I bought 8 of the biggest bell peppers I could find, in red and green, then to work I went.

I still think they are the perfect way to eat a Summer stuffed bell pepper.



I can't tell you amounts of ingrediants, but I can give you the list of them.
Precooked rice. Diced ham, greated colby jack cheese, sauted onion, celery, zuchinni (because I had a lot of them). I mixed all that up in a big bowl and stuffed 2 pepper's (Because I'm allergic to them), then I added fresh from the garden diced tomatoes to the rest. I cleaned out the seeds and white stuff from the peppers and rinsed them out and let them drain, before stuffing them. Then I put them in a cake pan (my 2 in a bread loaf pan), and filled the bottom with water, up to a little over half way up the peppers. Baked at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.

I'm not a great cook. But every once and again I surprise even myself :)

p.s. Honey ate my bell pepper's for me and let me eat just the middles ;)

This One Old Dresser

Honey hopes I'm soon finished with this years Summer changes.
He does not take change well, even after all theses years of me changing things all the time.
I stopped rearranging furniture for far to long, just changing out the month-to-month decorations, I suspect that he became too comfortable with all of that.

Every time I start talking about painting this, or moving that, he throws me pained looks, or, leans his head back shutting his eye's, then shakes his head, ever so slightly and says something along the lines of, "Nooo...just leave it like it is." Or, "That's an antique. It will ruin it's value to do that."  Sometimes he just looks at me and acknowledges, "It doesn't matter what I say, your going to do it any way aren't you."
I generally just smile, nod, and do what I want.
Then at the big unveiling, with over exaggerated flourish, complete with the hand moves of my best Vanna White impersonation, he always looks just a little surprised then says, "Well, that looks good. I like that." 

Alright, it's worked that way with everything, except, the 'Ivy Green' table. That one, is going to take a long while for him to say anything nicer than, "Well at least its in the corner where you don't really have to see it. Don't do that color again. Ever."

I have been warning him that changes would be coming to his Grandma Al's old dresser. The treasure that was found, lost, forgotten, buried in the back, dark, dank corner 'room', of the five foot, hand dug section of the little bungalow basement. Along with some other fabulous finds!

 
It had, at one time, been none to carefully painted, that certain shade of turquoise my mom loved, the one that must have been the only other color made, besides carnation pink. From the 1920's or 1930's or before.
Then sometime later on, in a quest to revive that old dresser, it was painted yet again, more sloppily this time, and white. A lot of the turquoise still visible.
The little glass pulls still hold a fair amount of both colors.  
I have had the dresser for quite a few years now. It resides happily in my dinning room these day's.


Now you must know this about me. I do not like just plain white. I like color. Lots of color.

So when I saw this post over on Kelly Rae Roberts  blog. I knew I wanted to give that little dresser this look!
It has taken me a while to build my bravery in this attempt. I started to let Honey know that it would indeed be changing sometime in the near future. I showed him what I was planning.
Then I went to that too cute re-created antique shop, it was all over then, an all out search for things around the house and garage needing new color, new life, was launched in full force!

Honey began to sweat.

I began to rub my hands together and accumulate paint.

I am happy that bright color has been introduced back into the house.
It seems that somehow, everything became white (ugh), varying shades of brown, and dark colors.
I was becoming blah.
Somehow it started giving off the feel of Grampa's little basement apartment. Without the nummy fresh baked pie smell. And I had become settled into it, like toes into a warm blanket on a cold winters night.

This needed to be remedied. And soon!

So this week, while Honey slept, the dresser under went it's transformation...

I left all the old paint, scratches and dings that the years have given it. I left the turquoise and white paint on the little glass pulls. I left the little wooden wheel's with the rusting works.

I like it!
Honey likes it!!

Now I'm just trying to decide if I should do the side panels to match the drawer fronts, or if I should leave them plain...

What do you think?

Next project.
To paint an old wooden chair I found in my Grampa's attic...'bauhaus gold'!

Then...

"Oh Honey? What would you think if I..."

;)

My Red Window

After my introduction to the antique shop earlier this month, I decided it was time to spruce things up around the house...just a bit.

You know, to sort of prepare Honey for bigger changes? He is a very good sport about my off the wall idea's, he doesn't understand them all the time, but as long as it's not wall paper he's good with it.

He has a little bit of a hard time thinking outside the box, but that's ok, I'm teaching him about it.

Like the time I needed him to make a picture frame out of old barn wood? He just couldn't or didn't want to grasp the idea that I did not want it perfectly square.

It took a lot of conversation and a leap of faith on his part, and a whole lot of stubbornness on my part. But once it was finished and the cross stitch was in place, he understood why I wanted it that way.

"I'll trust your judgement from now on." He promised before adding, "Until the next time." with a smile.

Well there have been a lot of next times between then and now, and generally speaking, we have a very similar conversation each time I enlist his help in one of my out of box schemes.

It happened again after the trip to the shop when I started going through collected treasures around the house, and strange colors of paint started showing up. He didn't start clutching at his heart until he saw the green paint I tried to slip past him :)

Can you just imagine his *consternation when I pulled this old window frame out, clumped to the garbage can with it and a hammer, then started breaking out the three remaining pains of glass into the can? Retreating to the patio with one piece of really rough sand paper and went to work.

NOT, I might add, as he thought it should be done. He kept volunteering to get me the electric sander, some wood putty to fill the holes. Telling me I should be sure to knock off all the old putty and pull out all the nails.

When I stopped sanding, he had a very hard time staying in the patio chair watching me.

Then to his continued bewilderment, I grabbed a can of left over spray paint that was only half full in one hand the window frame in the other and headed out to the paint spot.

Following he said, "You should run and get another can of paint, that isn't going to be enough." His brow furrowing, "Are you sure you want to paint it red?"

I tried to sound encouraging as I replied, "It'll be plenty. It's ok. Trust me. Yes red."

I started spraying, immediately the paint was absorbing like water to a dry desert floor, into the old, tired, thirsty wood.

In near panic, shaking his head, he said, "I should have got you the sealer before you started painting. It would help keep it from soaking in so fast."

Without stopping I reassured over my shoulder, "It's ok. Really. Trust me. Outside the box baby, remember, I play outside the box."

"Didn't I trust you last time? Maybe this time it wont work like you think." He joked a little nervously.

But I kept right on going. I did after all have a plan for this old red window.  

  

The plan was to fill the space on the wall near my 100 year old, huge, saved from the neighbor's dumpster by a niece, frame. That I love.

Resignation filling his voice he relented with, "Well as long as it's not that terrible so called, 'Ivy Green' you did that table...I guess I'll trust you one more time." I could tell from the sound of his voice he was really trying to convince himself it would be ok. 

 Once the paint dried, I snuck it in to hang while he wasn't looking, other wise he'd lament over me not finding a stud while hanging it where I wanted.

Once I got it into place, I went and got him to come see that the plan was working...

"Huh! It's looks pretty good. Glad I trusted you on this." He whispered as he put his arm around me, "You know don't you, that sometimes your plans worry me, right?"

"So you like my little corner of the world then?" I teased as I elbowed him gently on the arm.

"Yes. I like your little corner of the world. It fit's your personality." He smiled. "But wouldn't it have been better to paint everything to match?" He said as he stepped out the door.

"Outside the box baby. Outside the box." I called back, "Waite until you see what I am going to do to the dresser next week!"

"As long as it's not that green, I'll trust you one more time." He replied adding,"By the way. I think everybody should have a red window."

We'll go through this again next week when I start the dresser. 

Maybe I'll trick him and start it today ;)  

Consternation = bewilderment, alarm, terror, fear, panic, fright, horror.

Pretty Flower's

I have been wanting to make myself some flower pins.

Some really BIG flower pins.

For any number of uses.

I have collected patterns and ideas for a long time.

Not years...but maybe A year.

And last week I finally made some!

Yeah for me :)

I have never been good at giving directions, so I'm hoping this isn't to confusing, in case you want to make one too.

Yeah for you :)

I used Off White, Peaches n Cream cotton for the first one.

(The kind you use to knit and crochet dish rags with).

It was quick and easy.

With a size 'J' hook

Chain 4 join to form a ring.

Into the center of the ring I began with a slip stitch *chain 15 slip stitch into center ring*. Repeated to form six (6) petals.

Next I made a *double crochet in each of the 15 stitches, slip stitched into the top of the previous slip stitch*. Repeating until I came back to the starting point and finished it off. Weaving in the ends.

Then I cut out a small felt circle and holding it on the back of the flower I hand stitched a pin and a button to the flower at the same time.

Fluffed it and pinned it to my Levi jacket :)

I think I will try one with red heart worsted weight yarn next.

 Wanting something bigger and brighter, I chose my next project;

I found the pattern for this amazing flower  HERE .

The first one is always the slowest for me, but I finished in in under an hour, with a renewed and somewhat healthier respect for a hot glue gun...

I used hot glue because I didn't have any of the glue they recommended, and while Elmer's is good...I thought these might at some point get snowed on...

The first one I made had a pin attached to the back, and that caused a little bit of a problem for my leather coat...

So I made a second Dahlia / Poinsettia using a small round,  heavy duty magnet I found in the craft section as Wal Mart.

Viola!

No holes! 

Just a couple of ideas for you Winter flower garden enjoyment.

And May God Bless