Trick or Treat !

Owl Cupcakes

My daughter had an after "Halloween parade" party at her house.   I decided to make owl cupcakes to bring to the party. I suppose I was sticking with her owl theme, because she made the most adorable owl costumes for herself and my grandchildren.  These cupcakes were easy to make and fun to eat.

Supplies needed: Sandwich cookies, yellow cake mix, chocolate and vanilla icing,
candy corn and junior mints.

After you bake and ice the cupcakes all you need to do is split the cookies in half
and use the iced side for the eyes, candy corn for the beak,
Junior mints for the eyes ( put a little icing on a junior mint to use as glue to apply the eyes). Next, use a small piece of cookie for the ears.
It's so easy the kids would love to help out making these cupcakes.

Owl Craft

Owls are everywhere anymore. Everywhere you look, there are some cute little owls looking back at you.  I saw these cute little buggers at a local craft store and I knew I had to make them for my grand babies. They turned out just adorable.  So, here is how you make them.

Supplies needed: colored felt, Styrofoams balls, googly eyes, glue gun

Cut felt into approximately 15 feathers in two different colors. Cut the bottom off the
Styrofoam ball so that it will sit on the table.

Next, start gluing the feathers from the bottom of the ball to the top and overlap them.
I used the lighter colors as the owls belly feathers.

 

Cut two large circles and two small circles for eyes. Glue them
on top of each other then glue the google eyes. Cut a triangle for the beak
and two triangles for the ears. Also, cute a triangle out for the top.



Walla, how cute are these little guys? 

I added them to my pumpkin table.  Then gave them to my little ones.
My grandaughter just loved them.

Crafts With The Girls

This weekend was most likely my last, at the Jersey Shore for this year.  I had a great time catching up with my sister, as well as spending time with my friends. I am posting a few pictures of the Autumn wreaths and wine glasses that we made.

Supplies needed. I just used some Fall colored scrapbook paper.
I used different colors from the book and cut them in the size of leaves.

This step probably took the longest.  I cut the leaves
while hanging out with my family.



I then glued them on using tacky glue but you can also use a glue gun.
I glued one in the center, then one on each side and just worked them
around the Styrofoam circle. You can use whatever pattern you want.



You can't see it in the pictures but I hot glued a brown ribbon
on the outside of the wreath to cover up the white from the
Styrofoam. Just pick a ribbon the size of the rim.

Here are a picture of my sister's and my wreath.
I just love how they turned out.
Now, I need to break out some mums and pumpkins to decorate the rest of the house.

Basket of Apples

Today was the end of the first week of school, so I decided it would be nice to put a basket of apples out for my teachers.
I just put an apple kitchen towel in the basket and filled it with farm fresh, local apples and added a cute owl ribbon.   I hope they enjoy the crisp apples. 

I love fresh crisp Apples !

Owl Cake

Recently I made a couple of cakes and decorated them with fondant owls. (Owls are very popular right now).  One of them I made for a staff''s "Baby Sprinkle".  I made a test cake and then the cake I used for the shower.  I used pound cake mix instead of a regular box cake. The shapes were cut out using cookie cutters or fondant cutters.  I taped a video to share with you.

Wine Glass Painting

I knew while on vacation a few weeks ago,we were going to have a wine tasting night. We usually go to a winery, but this year we decided to make a game of it.  Each couple had to bring a bottle of white wine and a bottle of red wine.  I printed out a  "How to Taste Wine" as well as a, wine tasting game from the Internet.
With all this in mind, I thought it would be fun to paint our own wine glasses. so the night before I set up a table with plain, dollar store wine glasses and a hand full of those "Sharpie Paint Pens". You can get them at any craft store. We each took a glass and a few paint pens and decorated our own wine glass. My goal, was to make them look like those expensive wine glasses you see in gift shops. It was fun and some of the wine glasses turned out better then others. They were painted and ready to fill with wine the next evening.
The wine tasting game was interesting too.  Our husband put an adult twist to it, but I wont go into that (keeping it friendly here).  Ha, Ha!  We had a blast!

A Toast, to a fun filled vacation.

Cucumber Pickle Salad



Fresh Veggies from our garden.



Here is a tasty cucumber salad that I made, from all the cucumbers we picked from our garden.  It keeps for a long time, since it is really being pickled. 

Use a gallon jug.

6 cups water

3 cups vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup diced onion

3 tsp table salt

pinch sea salt

2 tbsp  minced celery

1/2 tsp garlic powder

5 cloves fresh garlic

5 cucumbers sliced thin (I use a slicer for the cucumbers and onions)

Mix all together and let stand in refrigerator for 48 hours before serving.

Give it a good stir and then serve. It's great as a side dish, along with some BBQ.

Enjoy!

Pretty Yellow Flower Pots.

I want to welcome my sister Debbie to my little corner of the world.

 Debbie made this bright sunshine yellow flower pots while we were down the shore on vacation.  She is sprucing up her shore house and thought these little flower pots would do the trick.

They look so welcoming placed on her steps.

I really like the fact that she picked the color yellow for the flowers. It's such a beautiful color.

Thanks for sharing Debbie....come on back and see us again.

Fresh Garden Pizza

Our garden (I say this loosely because it's my husbands garden), has begun to yield some incredible vegetables already.  We have picked at least 6 zucchini, cucumbers, yellow peppers, and my herbs are doing great.   I decided to make a healthy, fresh pizza, using the veggies from the garden.

I brushed the crust with a little EVOO and then brushed some crushed garlic.
Next I sectioned the crust with fresh roasted red peppers.



 I layered all my veggies; tomatoes, onions, thinly sliced baby zucchini and a couple of banana peppers for a little bite, lots of fresh basil and a few spinach leaves. Topped off with oregano and mozzarella cheese.




Bake on 400 for 10 minutes or so and you are ready to eat.

Manga! 



Iced Vanilla Coffee Milk, Only 50 calories

Iced Vanilla Coffee Milk Prep time: 15 minutes | Serves: 4 (1-cup) Details: Whipped topping turns this coffee milk into a satisfying, rich-tasting dessert. The cinnamon stick stirrer adds a light spiced flavor. You can also sprinkle some ground cinnamon on top, if you like. (Phase 1) Ingredients: 3 cups strongly brewed decaffeinated coffee, chilled 1 cup fat-free or 1% milk 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 2 teaspoons granular sugar substitute Ice cubes 1/2 cup fat-free or light whipped topping Pinch ground cinnamon for garnish (optional) 4 cinnamon sticks for garnish (optional)

Enlarge Image Nutritional Information: 50 calories 0 g fat (0 g sat) 6 g carbohydrate 2 g protein 0 g fiber 45 mg sodium

Directions: In a pitcher, combine coffee, milk, vanilla, and sugar substitute; stir well. Fill 4 (10-ounce) glasses with ice. Pour coffee mixture over ice. Spoon 2 tablespoons of the whipped topping into each glass. Stir gently so that some topping mixes with coffee and some remains at the top of the glass. Garnish each with a pinch of ground cinnamon and a cinnamon stick, if using.

Pasta & Wine gift Basket

I made this gift basket for my daughter and her husband for their wedding Anniversary.
All they have to do is add some fresh Italian bread and they have an Italian meal.

Items I selected for their basket :  Red wine from the "Cape May" winery. 
 Emeril's Vodka Sauce, Penne pasta, a few Wine themed dish towels and hot pads
and I added a new cool red colander.

whaaa Laaa, this is the finished product
. I love making up different types with different themes.

Lisa's Deviled Eggs

Happy Memorial Day !

It's BBQ time.  I love getting together with family during the summer.  This morning I made a plate of deviled eggs, and I thought I would share the recipe with you.

12 eggs

4 tbsp Mayo

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp white vinegar

2 tsp spicy mustard

1/2 salt (more or less to taste)

pinch of black pepper

1tbsp creamy horseradish

Paprika

Directions

1. Place eggs in saucepan and cover with water. Bring to boil. Cover, remove from heat, and let eggs sit in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water and cool.
2. Peel and cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks and  mash with a fork, now combine with mustard, sugar,  Mayo, horseradish, vinegar and salt and pepper. Mix together until smooth.





3. Refill each egg half with the yolk mixture and sprinkle with paprika. Then refrigerate until ready to serve.

ENJOY!

Len's Garden

My husband has been planning his garden (in his head), this entire winter. Family and friends of ours know how anal this man can be, so I have to share "his" masterpiece of a garden with everyone. Of course, the fruits of his labor will tell us the true results.
First, he rototilled the ground, then built his fencing and door into the garden.  Next he measures where everything is going to be placed.  Built up his mounds of soil in which he will space out his plantings, and then onto laying down the black weed block.   Next, he planted the various veggies.....and now onto the irrigation.  He has it figured out when, and how much water will be needed so not to waste any water.   He put his heart and soul into this garden, and so I am saying a prayer that we yield some tasty organic veggies this summer.

Here is a little video to show the start of the garden, I will occasionally show you the progress through out the summer.

Simple Pickled Hard Boiled Eggs

I love pickled eggs made from pickled red beats.  I thought with Memorial Day picnics coming up, here is a side dish instead of deviled eggs or along side of them.  I like them sliced up in a fresh salad along with the pickled beets.  You know, they keep really well in the refrigerator too.  So, you can make them during the week, and serve them over the weekend.

Ingredients: peeled hard boiled eggs, some chopped onion, 1/3 vinegar (any kind)
salt and pepper to taste, 1 tsp of sugar and jarred or canned sliced red beets.
I stir everything together, except the eggs of course.  Then taste test.  If you want
it to taste sweeter add some more sugar or tartness is your preference 
then add more vinegar.  Add the eggs to the mixture, then put the juice and eggs into a mason jar. 

Ready to put in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

S'Mores Gift Treats

I want to thank Pinterest for this fun teacher's gift idea. 

As most of you know, I own and operate a small neighborhood daycare.  I love it.  It is truly my life.  Well, this upcoming week is "The Week of The Young Child".  It's a way of celebrating our children through our community, literacy, family, our teachers and staff. There is an old saying..."It takes a village to raise a child".  How true is that?

Each day we will celebrate something different.  I am celebrating the last day as teacher's day.  I always try to make that a fun day for them.  Anyway, with all this being said, I found this cute teachers gift bags and I wanted to make them.  I took a few pictures....tell me what you think?

The supplies.

For the majority of the treats I used full size candy bars with two graham cracker.
then I ran out of full bars and added the miniture size.



Then zip up the bag and staple the tag at the top of the bag.

Then I fill up the basket. (everything looks better in a basket)
I will give them to my teachers on Friday.

I want to thank the following blog, "Domesticated Lady" for this idea. Just click on her site and

you can then download the paper discription of the S'more tag.

http://domesticatedlady.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/mwilson-smoreteacher-print.pdf

Homemade Peanut Butter Eggs

My granddaughter and I had a blast making these homemade Easter treats. These are the perfect peanut butter eggs, and they are free of all of the additives and preservatives that are in  those commercial PB eggs you find in the stores. Just pure fresh ingredients.   Give them a try!

4 cups of powder sugar
1 1/2 cups of all natural peanut butter
1/4 cup of melted butter
3 Tbsp butter
3 cups of chocolate chips
1 Tbsp shortening
Directions:
Mix together the powder sugar, peanut butter, and butter.
Add the milk one tablespoon at a time (I ended up using about 4 tablespoons) until it becomes a nice workable dough. Once the dough becomes workable, start rolling the dough into egg shapes. Place on a tray that has a layer of wax paper on it. Place in the freezer for at least an hour.

Now:
place the chocolate chips and shortening into a deep glass bowl. Microwave for about a minute.  Stir until  melted & smooth. Dip each egg into the chocolate and place on wax paper until set. Once set you can trim any of the chocolate off that may have pooled around the egg. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.  SO YUMMY!

The best thing about these delicious PB eggs......are the memories I made

with my granddaughter.

Happy Easter