Mini Notebooks - what a great gift and they are so cute!

I saw these mini notebooks on the Girl On The Go Blog and thought this is such a great idea! And it is so easy! I knew that I had to share it with all of you! I plan to make these for my granddaughters and one for me. I just love to have something to write on in my purse.

The following was taken from Kellie's Blog:

I think they are so cute when they are all lined up! I made 18 little books to go in the bags and I once again used the patterns from my Reprodepot Pattern Book. Here are the steps to making a mini notebook for yourself.

First of all, decide what size you want it to be. I made mine 3” x 2.5” when folded so when it’s flat the cover is 3” x 5”. That way, if you use an 8.5” x 11” sheet of paper, you can get 5 out of one sheet. Print and then cut your cover to size. I used cardstock for the cover.

For the pages I used regular computer paper but you could also use graph paper (I later made another one with graph paper) and it is so cute! I just didn’t have enough graph paper on hand to make all the books I needed so I used plain white. You could also used a mixture of papers as long as they are all light weight. Cut the plain paper to the same size (3” x 5”).


Fold all of your sheets of paper and your cover in half. You can already see it looking like a little book. I used 10 sheets of paper per book. My sewing machine couldn’t handle any more than that!


For the ribbon place holder, put a small piece of double sided tape onto 

the top of the inside fold of the cover and place one end of the ribbon 

onto it. Then assemble the book again. I cut my ribbon to 4”.



Flatten out your book making sure that everything is lined up correctly and sew a straight stitch along the fold down the center. I used a contrasting thread for fun.

Fold your book again and ta-da! You are done! Aren’t they so cute? I love to carry a little notebook with me in my purse and these are just the right size.
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Applesauce Bread - sounds so good!

I received this recipe from a friend, Carolyn Carson, who got it from Cathy Greek. I am going to make it today - yessiree, today! I'll let you know how it turned out.

This is so simple to make and smelled so delicious as it baked!
You probably have all the ingredients already ~ Check it out!

Ingredients
1/2 cup of softened butter
1 large egg
1 1/2 t baking soda
3/4 t nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 t ground cinnamon
1/2 t kosher salt
1 1/2 cups of applesauce
1 t of pure vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, first blend together the butter, egg, & sugar.
Then add the flour, baking soda, spices, & salt.
After it starts to from a crumbly dough, pour in the applesauce and mix together.

I used two small loaf pans, pouring mixture evenly into both.
I sprayed my pans with cooking spray first or you could use parchment paper, depending on the dish you choose to bake them in.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes.

How To Make Ganache - Haven't you always wanted to know how?

I love cakes that have Ganache icing on them. It just tastes so good! OK - I just love cakes! Although I am a mature woman (will not tell her age unless pressed for it), I have always been apprehensive about making Ganache icing. 

Well guess what! I found a recipe that looks so easy on Little Delights Cakes Blog . Now this does looks easy and I plan to try it. I wonder if you could use peanut butter chips - what do you think?

 

Here is my favorite ganache recipe:

1 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips
2 TBL unsalted butter
 
Place the chocolate chips in a bowl then warm 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 2 tbl butter until you start to see little bubbles on the edges but not to a full boil. You can do this on the stove or in the microwave in increments of 45 seconds, stirring in between. Pour the warm cream over the chocolate chips and let it sit for 5 minutes. Then stir until the chocolate is completely melted, at this point you can add some vanilla to taste if you like.
If you want your cake to keep its glossy look make sure it is the temperature it will stay until served before you pour the ganache over the cake. (Ie: If you need to keep your cake refrigerated make sure the cake is cold when you pour the chocolate on it.)

Loaded Baked Potato Salad - You will love it!

We go camping a lot with family and friends. Each family contributes food to be shared among the group that we go with. I try to bring something new or different but most importantly, taste great. So a few weeks ago when we went camping at a campground Mountain Creek Campground in Gardners, PA just outside of Gettysburg, PA. Anyway, I was looking through my recipes and Pinterest for that "great" recipe - and I found the Loaded Baked Potato Salad. It was easy to make and everyone just loved it!

I actually got the recipe off of Pinterest and then went to the website, This is My Key West Blog. I did make a small change. I substituted bacon bits in place of the bacon. Here is a picture of the salad and the recipe. Hope you like it!

 

Fully Loaded Baked Potato Salad

8 medium Russet Potatoes

1 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 package of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 small onion, chopped

Chives, to taste

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Cover with water and boil until fork tender, about 20-25 minutes. Do not overcook!

2. Drain and cool the potatoes. I put them in a separate bowl and once they cooled enough I put them in the fridge to cool all the way. This gave them an excellent texture and prevented the dairy ingredients from getting hot or the cheese from melting. If you are serving this salad hot then you don’t need to cool the potatoes, just skip step 2!

3. Mix the mayo and sour cream together in a bowl. Add to the potatoes, then add the onions, chives, and cheese. Salt and pepper to taste – I use a pepper grinder and a sea salt grinder for EVERYTHING so I never know exactly how much of either I put in. I think the taste is far superior to just using regular table salt and pepper.

4. Top with extra shredded cheese and bacon and serve! I think next time I will add chives and we may try serving this warm once as well.

“Through the Spectrum” – Spiral Crochet Scarf Pattern – FREE!

This is such a pretty crocheted scarf!! I love the colors! And the pattern is free. I just thought this would be a great Christmas gift and looks very easy to do. This pattern was from Expression Fiber Arts site.

 

Here are the instructions:

Yarn: Expression Fiber Arts Spectrum Wool, 1 skein, in Peacock Dewdrop. 
Hook: Size H
Pattern:  Ch 222.
Row 1: Sk 5, (dc, ch 2, dc) in next st. *Sk 2 ch, (dc, ch 2, dc) in next st. Repeat from * across. Turn.
Row 2: Ch 3. *(dc, ch2, dc, ch2, dc) in next ch2 sp. Repeat from * across. Turn.
Row 3: Repeat Row 2.

 

This Good Friday...

Berry Apple Salad

I was looking for some salad recipes that were a little different from what I normally have and I found this Berry Apple Salad recipe. It looks good! I think it will be part of my Easter buffet. I saw this recipe on The Red Headed Hostess site . It even has a recipe for the dressing although I think I will just use one of the bottled dressings. Hope you like it!

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Berry Apple Salad

-  Mixed Salad Greens

- Berries (I have strawberries and blackberries here, but I have used raspberries and blueberries as well)

-  Diced Apples (I LOVE Pink Lady apples in this salad)

- Red Grapes (cut in half – they are much easier to eat that way)

- Sugar and Cinnamon Spiced Almonds or crushed honey roasted peanuts

Just prep all of your fruit and layer on top of the greens and drizzle with a poppy seed dressing, or the below dressing.

Balsamic Poppy Seed Dressing

1/2 cup extra light olive oil (or vegetable oil)

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

1 T Rice Wine Vinegar

1/4 tsp Worcestershire

1 T Poppy Seeds

Orange Sherbet Cake - 3 ingredients

I just love cakes and this one looked so good that I had to try it. I couldn't find the sugar free yellow cake mix at my Walmart so I chose the regular orange cake mix. I used the Diet Orange Soda and the Lite frozen whipped topping. When I put the soda in the cake mix, it really did froth up. This cake was so GOOD!!! You have to try it. It is so refreshing! I saw the recipe on It's On The Tip Of My Tongue Blog so I included what Sarah wrote about this recipe and her pictures. Thanks Sarah!
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I’ve seen lots of variations of this recipe, but this is the one I chose. Click on the picture below for the original source. There were many similar recipes. I omitted the eggs in this recipe (because I didn’t have any) and that did not effect the outcome.

I chose sugar free yellow cake mix (made with Splenda and reduced in calories by about 50 calories a slice when compared to the original cake mix), diet Crush, and lite frozen whipped topping.

142K+

Measure out 12 ounces of diet soda.

Pour the soda into the cake mix. Whisk for 30 seconds.

Bake according to the directions on the box. Let the cake cool (if you have the patience for that sort of thing). Top with thawed whip cream. Put on a paper plate. What? Ok, fine, I was too excited to try the cake to even be thinking about photographing in a nice way. You can put it on a nice plate if you’re in to that type of thing and don’t have half of the neighborhood kids waiting for this cake to be done.

On a scale of 1-10 on the diet dessert recipes index, this yummy cake earns a 10 from me! A six-year-old neighbor boy even asked me to write the recipe down for his mom because it was the best cake he’d ever had!

Tutorial: Gathered Round Basket

Again, I was looking for tutorials for making something for my grandchildren and found this one. It doesn't look difficult and I have lots of fabric. This tutorial was taken from the A Spoonful of Sugar site and thought "I could do that!". Have fun! Happy Easter!

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I had a few requests for instructions on how to make the gathered round 
basket that I made last week. This is an easy project and the baskets can
be made in any size, are fully reversible, and are useful for so many things.

Materials: (to make a basket measuring 4 1/2 inches diameter and
1 3/4 inches high)

• 2 pieces of cotton fabric cut into circles with a 8 inch diameter 

(I 

used a small side plate as a template)

• 1 piece of fusible wadding (such as parlan or pellon) cut into a circle 

with an 8 inch diameter 

• strip of fabric measuring 2 1/4 inch x 14 inch (for binding)

Instructions:
1. Fuse the wadding to the fabric circle that will form the outside of 
the basket, following manufacturers directions.

2. Baste the basket lining and basket outer together with the wrong 
sides facing.

3. Using a long straight stitch, sew a gathering stitch around the 
perimeter of the circle, close to the edge. Stitch a second gathering 
stitch close to the first gathering stitch. Ensure both gathering stitches
are within the 1/4 inch seam allowance.

4. Gently pull the two ends of thread on the wrong side, the fabric 
will gather along the thread.

5. Secure the threads at one end to prevent the stitches from pulling out.

6. Even out the gathers until the circumference of the circle measures approximately 12 inches. When all the gathers are in place, use a 
standard machine stitch to stitch a 1/4 inch seam.

7. Press the binding strip in half lengthwise with the wrong sides facing.

8. Pin the binding to the outside of the basket and stitch in place.

9. Fold the binding over to the inside of the basket and stitch in place 
by hand using a slip stitch to secure.

Edit 07/ 2012 - Just wanted to clarify in response to a few emails - The circles are 8 inches in 
diameter (the measurement you get if you rule a line through the centre of the circle) and when
 they are gathered they measure 12 inches in circumference (i.e all around the outside of the circle).

Face Washer Bunny

I have 11 grandchildren and 10 of them are girls so I was looking for something to give them for Easter. I came along this tutorial on A Spoonful of Sugar site and thought "I could do that!". And maybe you can, too! Below are the instructions from that site. Here goes...

When my teens were small, I tried to limit their intake of chocolates and sweets. This was always challenging at Easter time. To get around this, the Easter Bunny always left them a book and mini chocolate eggs to hunt for. They used to love getting a special book for Easter - initially they received Peter Rabbit and other books featuring bunnies. Over time it progressed to chapter books. We kept this up all through their primary school years.

One year, my Grandmother made them little bunnies using Face Washers. She had made one for me when I was a child. If you are after a sweet Easter gift for a baby, a child, a Grandmother, make up an Easter Bunny using a Face washer. They can be teamed with bath toys, or some nice soap and lotion, to make a lovely gift.

If you would like to make your own bunny you will need:

• face washer or face cloth measuring approx 33 x 33 cm (13 x 13 inches). (I used a Target Essentials face washer )
• 2 googly eyes (stitch on variety)
• 1 hair elastic or rubber band
• one small pompom (nose)
• one large pompom (tail)
• ribbon

FACE WASHER BUNNY

Fold the face washer in half diagonally. Starting from the point, roll the face washer into a long roll.

Fold the roll in half. Fold the pointy ends up towards the rounded part of the roll, and secure with an elastic band (as pictured).

To make the bunny's face, stitch on the googly eyes and small pompom. Add the larger pompom to the rounded end, and stitch in place. Tie a ribbon around the neck for decoration.

The bunny can be easily taken apart and used as a face washer.